  The kinetic analyses are quite important when it comes to understand the
particle behavior in any device as they start to deviate from continuum nature.
In the present study, kinetic simulations are performed using Particle-in-Cell
(PIC) method to analyze the behavior of ions inside a cylindrical Inertial
Electrostatic Confinement Fusion (IECF) device which is being developed as a
tabletop neutron source. Here, the lighter ions, like deuterium are accelerated
by applying an electrostatic field between the chamber wall (anode) and the
cathode (cylindrical gridded wire), placed at the center of the device. The
plasma potential profiles obtained from the simulated results indicate the
formation of multiple potential well structures inside the cathode grid
depending upon the applied cathode potential (from $-1$ to $-5~kV$). The ion
density at the core region of the device is found to be of the order of
$10^{16}~m^{-3}$, which closely resembles the experimental observations.
Spatial variation of Ion Energy Distribution Function (IEDF) has been measured
in order to observe the characteristics of ions at different cathode voltages.
Finally, the simulated results are compared and found to be in good agreement
with the experimental profiles. The present analysis can serve as a reference
guide to optimize the technological parameters of the discharge process in IECF
devices.
