Plasma types
- Cold complex plasmas
- Warm plasmas
- Hot plasmas
- Nuclear plasmas
- Non-ideal plasmas
- One component plasmas
- Quantum plasmas
- Environmental plasmas (Atmospheric plasmas, Ionospheric plasmas, Space plasmas, Astrophysical plasmas)
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Environmental Plasmas
99% of the visible matter in the Universe is in plasma state. The rest is “dust”. “Dusty plasmas” are everywhere: they exist in galaxies, they are found in interstellar clouds, they play an important role in the formation of stars and planets, they surround comets, they are ubiquitous in Earth‘s atmosphere — from volcanic plumes, thunderclouds, to the ionosphere.
Technical Plasmas
- Plasmas are used in technology in many different applications:
- Manufacture and coatings of surfaces, e.g. information displays, solar cells (PVD, CVD)
- Manufacture of computer chips (plasma etching, PVD, CVD)
- Plasma surface functionalisation (e.g. hydrophilic surfaces)
- Energy production (plasma fusion, solar cells)
- Space thrusters
- Lighting (e.g. neon tubes, LEDs, ÖLEDs)
- Medical plasmas (implants, wound treatment, sterilisation of surgical equipment)
- Plasmas in hygiene (personal and professional)
- Plasma decontamination
Medical Plasma
- Medical plasmas (for use on human tissues) has to be at room temperature and atmospheric pressure
- It is a partially ionised gas (or air)
- Room Temperature Plasma contains neutral gas, charged particles, excited atoms and molecules and reactive species
- It is these species that can produce therapeutic effects. Plasma design, or “functionalisation” optimises this.