Plasma Engineering

Plasma Engineering

by Michael Keidar, Isak Beilis
Released March 2013
Publisher(s): Academic Press
ISBN: 9780123859785

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Book description

Plasma engineering applies the unique properties of plasmas (ionized gases) to improve processes and performance over many fields, such as materials processing, spacecraft propulsion, and nanofabrication. Plasma Engineering considers this rapidly expanding discipline from a unified standpoint, addressing fundamentals of physics and modeling as well as new real-word applications in aerospace, nanotechnology, and bioengineering.

The book starts by reviewing plasma particle collisions, waves, and instabilities, and proceeds to diagnostic tools, such as planar, spherical, and emissive probes, and the electrostatic analyzer, interferometric technique, and plasma spectroscopy. The physics of different types of electrical discharges are considered, including the classical Townsend mechanism of gas electrical breakdown and the Paschen law. Basic approaches and theoretical methodologies for plasma modeling are described, based on the fluid description of plasma solving numerically magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations and the kinetic model particle techniques that take into account kinetic interactions among particles and electromagnetic fields.

Readers are then introduced to the widest variety of applications in any text on the market. Space propulsion applications such as the Hall thruster, pulsed plasma thrusters, and microthruster are explained. Application of low-temperature plasmas in nanoscience and nanotechnology, another frontier in plasma physics, is covered, including plasma-based techniques for carbon-based nanoparticle synthesis (e.g., fundamental building blocks like single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene). Plasma medicine, an emerging field studying plasmas for therapeutic applications, is examined as well. The latest original results on cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) applications in medicine are presented, with a focus on the therapeutic potential of CAP with a in selective tumor cell eradication and signaling pathway deregulation.



  • The first textbook that addresses plasma engineering in the aerospace, nanotechnology, and bioengineering fields from a unified standpoint
  • Includes a large number of worked examples, end of chapter exercises, and historical perspectives
  • Accompanying plasma simulation software covering the Particle in Cell (PIC) approach, available at http://www.particleincell.com/blog/2011/particle-in-cell-example/

Table of contents

  1. Cover image
  2. Title page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Dedication
  5. Copyright
  6. Preface
  7. Chapter 1. Plasma Concepts
    1. 1.1 Introduction
    2. 1.2 Plasma particle phenomena
    3. 1.3 Waves and instabilities in plasmas
    4. 1.4 Plasma–wall interactions
    5. 1.5 Surface phenomena: electron emission and vaporization
    6. Homework problems
    7. References
  8. Chapter 2. Plasma Diagnostics
    1. 2.1 Langmuir probes
    2. 2.2 Orbital motion limit
    3. 2.3 Langmuir probes in collisional-dominated regime
    4. 2.4 Emissive probe
    5. 2.5 Probe in magnetic field
    6. 2.6 Ion energy measurements: electrostatic analyzer
    7. 2.7 HF cutoff plasma diagnostics
    8. 2.8 Interferometric technique
    9. 2.9 Optical measurements and fast imaging
    10. 2.10 Plasma spectroscopy
    11. 2.11 Microwave scattering
    12. Homework problems
    13. References
  9. Chapter 3. Electrical Discharges
    1. 3.1 Electrical breakdown and Paschen law
    2. 3.2 Spark discharges and streamer phenomena
    3. 3.3 Glow discharge
    4. 3.4 Arc discharges
    5. Homework problems
    6. References
  10. Chapter 4. Plasma Dynamics
    1. 4.1 Plasma in electric and magnetic field
    2. 4.2 Magnetic mirrors
    3. 4.3 Remarks on particle drift
    4. 4.4 The crossed E×B fields plasma dynamics in plasma devices
    5. 4.5 Diffusion and transport of plasmas
    6. 4.6 Simulation approaches
    7. 4.7 Particle-in-cell techniques
    8. 4.8 Fluid simulations of plasmas: free boundary expansion
    9. Homework problems
    10. References
  11. Chapter 5. Plasma in Space Propulsion
    1. 5.1 Plasma in ablative plasma thrusters
    2. 5.2 Bulk plasma and near-wall phenomena in Hall thruster
    3. 5.3 Micropropulsion
    4. 5.4 Plasma plumes from thrusters
    5. Homework problems
    6. References
  12. Chapter 6. Plasma Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
    1. 6.1 Plasmas for nanotechnology
    2. 6.2 Magnetically enhanced synthesis of nanostructures in plasmas
    3. 6.3 Nanoparticle synthesis in electrical arcs: modeling and diagnostics
    4. Homework problems
    5. References
  13. Chapter 7. Plasma Medicine
    1. 7.1 Plasmas for biomedical applications
    2. 7.2 Cold plasma interaction with cells
    3. 7.3 Application of CAP in cancer therapy
    4. Homework problems
    5. References
  14. Appendix. Physical Constants in SI
    1. A.1 Ionization potentials
    2. A.2 Work function
    3. A.3 Ion-induced secondary emission coefficients [1]
    4. A.4 Vacuum arcs
    5. A.5 Arc burning voltage
    6. A.6 Sputtering yield (xenon ions) [7]
    7. A.7 Cross sections for helium and nitrogen [8,9]
  15. Index

Product information

  • Title: Plasma Engineering
  • Author(s): Michael Keidar, Isak Beilis
  • Release date: March 2013
  • Publisher(s): Academic Press
  • ISBN: 9780123859785