Plasma

What is Plasma ?

– Plasma is considered 4th State of Matter despite solids, liquids and gases.
– Technically, it is partially an ionized gas and consists of,
– Positively charged ions (Positive ions)
– Electrons
– Neural (Atom, molecule, radical)
– A gas becomes a plasma when it is heated until the atoms lose all their
electrons, leaving a highly electrified collection of nuclei and free electrons.
Conti.

– It’s behavior doesn’t resemble with any other State of Matter. It is significantly
unique.
– The characteristics of plasmas are significantly different from those of ordinary
neutral gases. Because plasmas are made up of electrically charged particles,
they are strongly influenced by electric and magnetic fields while neutral gases
are not.
– Although Plasma includes ions, electrons and neutral atoms, it is
macroscopically neutral as a whole because electrons and ions are equally
balanced.
Conti.

– A Plasma must have sufficient number of charged particles as a whole, it

exhibits a collective response to electrical and magnetic field.
Types of Plasma

– Natural Plasma
Natural Plasma only exist at very high temperature or low temperature
vacuum. It do not react rapidly but it is extremely hot (over 20,000 oC).
There energy is so high that it vaporizes everything they touch.

– Artificial Plasma
Artificial Plasma can be created by ionization of a gas , as in neon signs.
Conti.

– Cold Plasma
– A nonthermal plasma, cold plasma or non-equilibrium plasma is a plasma which is not in thermodynamic
equilibrium, because the electron temperature is much hotter than the temperature of heavy species (ions and
neutrals).

– Although the electrons may have temperatures of several tens of thousands of Kelvins (i.e. much hotter than the
surface of the Sun), while ions and the neutral gas are more or less warm. However, owing to their extremely low
mass, electrons cannot transfer much of their thermal energy as heat to the heavier plasma components or to the
enclosing walls. Thus this type of cold plasma does not transfer much heat to its environment and it may be more
exactly characterized as ‘low-enthalpy plasma’.
– In low pressure gas discharge, the collision rate between electrons and gas molecules is not frequent enough for
non-thermal equilibrium to exist between the energy of the electrons and the gas molecules.
Conti.

– Hot Plasma
Thermal plasmas have electrons and the heavy particles at the same temperature,
i.e. they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.
– Fully Ionized Plasma
A fully ionized plasma has a degree of ionization approaching 1 (ie. 100%).
– Partially Ionized Plasma
A partially ionized plasma has a degree of ionization that is less than 1.
Artificially Plasma
Generation
– One way to view plasma is that it is a gas heated so hot that the molecules
ionize.
Plasma is created when the electrons of the atoms or molecules in a neutral gas
are liberated.
1. Direct Current gas discharge
2. Alternating current discharges
3. Microwave discharge
4. Photoionization
Direct Current Gas Discharge Plasma

– In the simplest case, it is formed by applying a potential difference (of a few 100
V to a few kV) between two electrodes that are inserted in a cell or reactor (or
that form the reactor walls). The reactor is filled with a gas (an inert gas or a
reactive gas) at a pressure ranging from a few mTorr to atmospheric pressure.
– Due to the potential difference, electrons that are emitted from the cathode by
the omnipresent cosmic radiation, are accelerated away from the cathode, and
give rise to collisions with the gas atoms or molecules.
– Positive charged ions moves towards cathode, where they release secondary
electrons. These secondary electrons are accelerated away from the cathode
and can give rise to more ionisation collisions.
AC Current Gas Discharge Plasma

– A time-varying voltage is applied to a set of coils which creates a time-varying

magnetic field. As electrons moves through this magnetic field, according to
Faraday's law, a time-varying electric field is generated which accelerates
electrons more that collisionally ionize the gas.
Microwave Gas Discharge
Plasma

– When considering the interaction of microwaves with frequencies equal to a

localized value of the electron gyrofrequency, the linear interaction of particles
with waves having polarization in the same sense as the electron gyration is
strong regardless of the electron's initial energy. Thus, any free electrons can be
excited and breakdown can easily occur if power balance requirements are
satisfied.
Photoionization

Sometimes a laser of the right frequency can liberate the electrons from atoms.
The frequency depends on the elements in the gas.