Basic Plasma Studies

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plasmastudy
Steady-state particles in a plasma on the left and tapped particles on the right once the plasma is turned off.

Research into multi-phase plasmas is a relatively new topic that is gaining increasing attention. Among multi-phase plasmas are gaseous discharges containing solid or liquid particles, or plasmas in liquids containing gas bubbles.

The Kortshagen Group focuses on fundamental studies of plasmas containing nanometer-sized particles. The group has previously found some intriguing phenomena, such as selective nanoparticle heating, which raises the temperature of particles in plasmas to many hundred Kelvins beyond the gas temperature. Fundamental work in this area focuses on elucidating the mechanisms that contribute to the charging of particles in plasmas and understanding the kinetics of nanoparticle heating.

This work is supported by DOE through the Center for Low Temperature Plasma Science and by NSF.