PLASMA

➢ It is called “the fourth state of matter” comes from the Greek word
plásma and means “moldable substance” or “jelly”.

➢ Plasma was first identified by Sir William Crookes in a Crookes tube in

1879.

➢ He gave name as “radiant matter”

➢ Irving Langmuir in 1927, studied the ionized gas and gave this new state of
matter the name “Plasma”.

➢ More than 99% of the mass of the universe is in the Plasma state.

➢ It is a hot ionized gas consists approximately equal numbers of positive

ions and free.

➢ Electrons resulting in more or less no overall charge.

 As the fourth state of matter
➢ As far as we know, matter generally exists in three states in nature.
These are: (𝑖) 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑 (𝑖𝑖) 𝐿𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 and (𝑖𝑖𝑖) 𝐺𝑎𝑠.
➢ Now when a solid is heated sufficiently that the thermal motion of the
atoms break the crystal lattice structure apart, usually a liquid is formed.
➢ When a liquid is heated enough that atoms vaporize off the surface faster
than they recondense, a gas is formed.
Now what happens to a matter just after that gaseous state?

When a gas is heated enough ( 𝑇 > 100,000℃ ) that the atoms collide with
each other and knock their electrons off and in this process a mixture of
ions, electrons and neutral atoms is formed.
This is called Plasma: The so-called “fourth state of matter”.
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 Characterization of Plasma
Plasma is characterized by following parameter

1. Electron temperature

2. Charge particle number density

Details on attached page

 HOW TO CREATE PLASMA??
There are many different methods of creating plasmas in the
laboratory. The most commonly known processes are
(𝑖) Photoionization and (𝑖𝑖) Electric discharge in gases.

(𝑖) Photoionization : In that process,

ionization occurs by absorption of
incident photons whose energy is equal
to or greater than the ionization potential
of the absorbing atom.

The excess energy of the photon is

transformed into kinetic energy of the
electron-ion pair formed. Ionization can
also be produced by X-rays or gamma
rays, which have much smaller
wavelengths.

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(𝑖𝑖) Electric discharge: In a gas discharge, an electric field is
applied across the ionized gas, which accelerates the free
electrons to energies sufficiently high to ionize other atoms by
collisions.

When a high-speed electron collides with an electron bound to a

nucleus, it can give both electrons enough energy to escape.
Thus, ionization is occurred.

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 Waves in Plasmas
❖ Waves in plasmas are an interconnected set of particles and
fields which propagate in a periodically repeating fashion.
❖ Due to its electrical conductivity, a plasma couples
to electric and magnetic fields. This complex of particles and
fields supports a wide variety of wave phenomena.
❖ The electromagnetic fields in a plasma are assumed to have
two parts, one static/equilibrium part and one
oscillating/perturbation part.
❖ Depending on the oscillation of magnetic field, plasma waves
can be classified into electromagnetic or electrostatic.
❖ When Faraday’s law of Electromagnetic Induction is applied
then it is found that electrostatic waves are purely
longitudinal whereas electromagnetic waves may be
longitudinal and transverse both.
 CLASSIFICATION OF PLASMAS
The degree of ionization of a plasma is the proportion of charged particles
to the total number of particles including neutrals and ions.

Depending on the degree of ionization of the plasma it is classified as (𝑖) Fully

ionized plasma, and (𝑖𝑖𝑖) Partially ionized plasma

(𝑖) Fully ionized plasma: A fully ionized plasma has a degree of ionization
approaching 1 (i.e., 100%).
Examples: The Solar Wind (interplanetary medium), stellar interiors (the Sun’s
core), fusion plasmas.

(𝑖𝑖𝑖) Partially ionized plasma : A partially ionized plasma has a degree of ionization
that is less than 1.
Examples: The ionosphere, gas discharge tubes.
 PLASMAS IN NATURE
❖ Plasma in Space
• Stars
• Coronas
• Solar wind
• Star nurseries
• Interstellar Nebulae
• The accretion disks and accretion disk
jets of black holes
• Sun exists in 99.85% plasma state.
The Sun is 1.5 million Km ball of
plasma heated by Nuclear Fusion
•Space is not empty vacuum. It is
actually filled with plasma that
conducts our EM wave signals.
Our Universe is 99.9% Plasma

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 ❖ Terrestrial Plasmas

• Fire (When hotter than 1500℃)

•Lightning
•The magnetosphere
•The ionosphere
• The plasmasphere
• The polar aurorae
• The polar wind
• Upper atmospheric lightning (e.g.
Blue jets, Blue starters)
• Sprites

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 ❖ Artificial Plasma
•Those found in plasma displays, including
TV screen
• Inside fluorescent lamps, neon signs
• Rocket exhaust and ion thrusters
•The area in front of a spacecraft’s heat shield
during re-entry into the atmosphere
• Fusion energy research
•The electric area in an arc lamp, an arc welder or
plasma torch
•Plasma ball (Plasma sphere or Plasma globe)
• Arcs produced by Tesla coils
•Plasmas are used in semiconductor device
fabrication
• Laser produced plasma
•Static electric sparks
• In Fusion Test Reactor (FTR) to produce
controlled thermonuclear fusion power

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 HOW TO CONTAIN IT

Because of the extreme heat

of most plasmas, conventional
materials can not be used to
contain plasma.

However, Plasma is an
excellent conductor and hence
magnetic fields are used to
contain high-density, high-
temperature plasmas because
such fields exert pressures and
tensile forces on the plasma.
Tokamak Reactor

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 FUTURE OF PLASMA
➢ One of the great challenges of humankind is to create high
temperatures in a controlled manner and to harness the energy
of nuclear fusion.
➢ This is the great practical goal of Plasma Physics to produce
nuclear fusion on the Earth. Modern Plasma theory has
developed to meet the demands of fusion research.
➢ Researchers have used the properties of plasma as a charged
gas to confine it with magnetic fields and to heat it to
temperatures hotter than the core of the sun. Thus scientists
have used Plasma in Fusion Test Reactor (FTR).
➢ Other researchers pursue plasmas for making computer chips,
rocket propulsion, cleaning the environment, destroying
biological hazards, healing wounds and other exciting
applications.
 References

1. J. A. Bittencourt , ‘ Fundamentals of Plasma Physics ’ , Springer Press.

2. Robert J. Goldston and Paul H. Rutherford , ‘ Introduction to Plasma Physics ’ ,
Institute of Physics Publishing Bristol and Philadelphia.
3. P. K. Karmakar , ‘ Plasma: A unique state of matter ’.
4. https://www.plasmatreat.com/
5. http://www.psfc.mit.edu/
6. https://phys.org
7. https://www.plasmas.org/
8. https://www.wikipedia.org/