Public release of LoKI-GM
The N-PRiME group (N-Plasmas Reactive: Modelling and Engineering) of IPFN has publicly released the LisbOn Kinetics Global Model (LoKI-GM), an open-source simulation framework for the modelling of low-temperature plasmas (LTPs). The software was officially launched during the 27th Europhysics Conference on Atomic and Molecular Physics of Ionized Gases (ESCAMPIG 2026), held in Funchal, Madeira.
LoKI-GM enables researchers to simulate the behaviour of pure gases and gas mixtures under a wide range of operating conditions (glow DC/HF, post-discharge, pulsed), providing a self-consistent description of plasma chemistry and transport processes. The framework combines two complementary modules: LoKI-B, an electron Boltzmann solver that describes electron kinetics, and LoKI-C, a chemistry solver that models the kinetics of charged and neutral species in both the gas volume and at surfaces. The two modules can operate either independently or in a fully coupled manner.
Developed in MATLAB as part of the LisbOn KInetics (LoKI) suite, LoKI-GM v26.07 is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0, making it freely available to the international scientific community.
'LoKI-GM embodies the plasma chemistry modelling expertise accumulated over many years by the N-PRiME group' said Prof. Luís L. Alves, Head of the N-PRiME group and one of the main developers of the framework. The public release at ESCAMPIG also carries special significance for the Lisbon team. 'Our group has participated in ESCAMPIG since its early editions and has had the privilege of organizing two previous conferences, in Lisbon (1988) and Viana do Castelo (2012). Releasing LoKI-GM during ESCAMPIG 2026 is therefore a meaningful way of giving back to a community that has accompanied our scientific journey for decades' added Luís L. Alves.
The current release supports steady-state, quasi-stationary and post-discharge simulations. It includes comprehensive electron-impact cross-section databases for all gases available in the IST-Lisbon database of the open-access website LXCat, a broad set of reaction-rate coefficient models, chemistry schemes for oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen plasmas, and extensive user documentation in both PDF and HTML formats.
'We will continue developing LoKI-GM', said Luís L. Alves, 'to expand its capabilities and extend the range of plasma configurations and physical processes that it can address, ensuring that the framework evolves together with the needs of the plasma science community.'
The development of LoKI-GM has been supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under projects UID/50010/2025, UID/PRR/50010/2025, UID/PRR2/50010/2025, LA/P/0061/2020 and 2022.04128.PTDC.
