Plasma electrochemistry

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Plasma electrochemistry is a new field of research where the interaction of plasma with an electrolyte solution is studied. It uses plasma to drive chemical reactions in liquid. [1]

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In semiconductor manufacturing plasma ashing is the process of removing the photoresist from an etched wafer. Using a plasma source, a monatomic substance known as a reactive species is generated. Oxygen or fluorine are the most common reactive species. Other gases used are N2/H2 where the H2 portion is 2%. The reactive species combines with the photoresist to form ash which is removed with a vacuum pump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State of matter</span> Distinct forms that matter take on

In physics, a state of matter is one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist. Four states of matter are observable in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Many intermediate states are known to exist, such as liquid crystal, and some states only exist under extreme conditions, such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Fermionic condensates, neutron-degenerate matter, and quark–gluon plasma. For a complete list of all exotic states of matter, see the list of states of matter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dielectric</span> Electrically insulating substance able to be polarised by an applied electric field

In electromagnetism, a dielectric is an electrical insulator that can be polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the material as they do in an electrical conductor, because they have no loosely bound, or free, electrons that may drift through the material, but instead they shift, only slightly, from their average equilibrium positions, causing dielectric polarisation. Because of dielectric polarisation, positive charges are displaced in the direction of the field and negative charges shift in the direction opposite to the field. This creates an internal electric field that reduces the overall field within the dielectric itself. If a dielectric is composed of weakly bonded molecules, those molecules not only become polarised, but also reorient so that their symmetry axes align to the field.

Volatilization is the process whereby a dissolved sample is vaporised. In atomic spectroscopy this is usually a two-step process. The analyte is turned into small droplets in a nebuliser which are entrained in a gas flow which is in turn volatilised in a high temperature flame in the case of AAS or volatilised in a gas plasma torch in the case of ICP spectroscopy.

Electrical resistivity is a fundamental specific property of a material that measures its electrical resistance or how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows electric current. Resistivity is commonly represented by the Greek letter ρ (rho). The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohm-metre (Ω⋅m). For example, if a 1 m3 solid cube of material has sheet contacts on two opposite faces, and the resistance between these contacts is 1 Ω, then the resistivity of the material is 1 Ω⋅m.

A plasma afterglow is the radiation emitted from a plasma after the source of ionization is removed. The external electromagnetic fields that sustained the plasma glow are absent or insufficient to maintain the discharge in the afterglow. A plasma afterglow can either be a temporal, due to an interrupted (pulsed) plasma source, or spatial, due to a distant plasma source. In the afterglow, plasma-generated species de-excite and participate in secondary chemical reactions that tend to form stable species. Depending on the gas composition, super-elastic collisions may continue to sustain the plasma in the afterglow for a while by releasing the energy stored in rovibronic degrees of freedom of the atoms and molecules of the plasma. Especially in molecular gases, the plasma chemistry in the afterglow is significantly different from the plasma glow. The afterglow of a plasma is still a plasma and as thus retains most of the properties of a plasma.

In physics, a charge carrier is a particle or quasiparticle that is free to move, carrying an electric charge, especially the particles that carry electric charges in electrical conductors. Examples are electrons, ions and holes. The term is used most commonly in solid state physics. In a conducting medium, an electric field can exert force on these free particles, causing a net motion of the particles through the medium; this is what constitutes an electric current. The electron and the proton are the elementary charge carriers, each carrying one elementary charge (e), of the same magnitude and opposite sign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resting potential</span> Static membrane potential in biology

A relatively static membrane potential which is usually referred to as the ground value for trans-membrane voltage.

Plasma oscillations, also known as Langmuir waves, are rapid oscillations of the electron density in conducting media such as plasmas or metals in the ultraviolet region. The oscillations can be described as an instability in the dielectric function of a free electron gas. The frequency depends only weakly on the wavelength of the oscillation. The quasiparticle resulting from the quantization of these oscillations is the plasmon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawson criterion</span> Criterion for igniting a nuclear fusion chain reaction

The Lawson criterion is a figure of merit used in nuclear fusion research. It compares the rate of energy being generated by fusion reactions within the fusion fuel to the rate of energy losses to the environment. When the rate of production is higher than the rate of loss, the system will produce net energy. If enough of that energy is captured by the fuel, the system will become self-sustaining and is said to be ignited.

In plasmas and electrolytes, the Debye length, is a measure of a charge carrier's net electrostatic effect in a solution and how far its electrostatic effect persists. With each Debye length the charges are increasingly electrically screened and the electric potential decreases in magnitude by 1/e. A Debye sphere is a volume whose radius is the Debye length. Debye length is an important parameter in plasma physics, electrolytes, and colloids. The corresponding Debye screening wave vector for particles of density , charge at a temperature is given by in Gaussian units. Expressions in MKS units will be given below. The analogous quantities at very low temperatures are known as the Thomas–Fermi length and the Thomas–Fermi wave vector. They are of interest in describing the behaviour of electrons in metals at room temperature.

Electrical mobility is the ability of charged particles to move through a medium in response to an electric field that is pulling them. The separation of ions according to their mobility in gas phase is called ion mobility spectrometry, in liquid phase it is called electrophoresis.

Ambipolar diffusion is diffusion of positive and negative species with opposite electrical charge due to their interaction via an electric field. In the case of ionic crystals, the fluxes of the diffusing species are coupled, while in a plasma the various species diffuse at the same rate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ion wind</span> Propulsion based on stellar ion radiation

Ion wind, ionic wind, corona wind or electric wind is the airflow induced by electrostatic forces linked to corona discharge arising at the tips of some sharp conductors subjected to high voltage relative to ground. Ion wind is an electrohydrodynamic phenomenon. Ion wind generators can also be considered electrohydrodynamic thrusters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perilymph</span> Extracellular fluid located within the inner ear

Perilymph is an extracellular fluid located within the inner ear. It is found within the scala tympani and scala vestibuli of the cochlea. The ionic composition of perilymph is comparable to that of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. The major cation in perilymph is sodium, with the values of sodium and potassium concentration in the perilymph being 138 mM and 6.9 mM, respectively. It is also named Cotunnius' liquid and liquor cotunnii for Domenico Cotugno.

Distribution in pharmacology is a branch of pharmacokinetics which describes the reversible transfer of a drug from one location to another within the body.

In plants and animals, mineral absorption, also called mineral uptake is the way in which minerals enter the cellular material, typically following the same pathway as water. In plants, the entrance portal for mineral uptake is usually through the roots. Some mineral ions diffuse in-between the cells. In contrast to water, some minerals are actively taken up by plant cells. Mineral nutrient concentration in roots may be 10,000 times more than in surrounding soil. During transport throughout a plant, minerals can exit xylem and enter cells that require them. Mineral ions cross plasma membranes by a chemiosmotic mechanism. Plants absorb minerals in ionic form: nitrate (NO3), phosphate (HPO4) and potassium ions (K+); all have difficulty crossing a charged plasma membrane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plasma (physics)</span> State of matter

Plasma is one of four fundamental states of matter, characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars, but also dominating the rarefied intracluster medium and intergalactic medium. Plasma can be artificially generated by heating a neutral gas or subjecting it to a strong electromagnetic field.

Ischemic cell death, or oncosis, is a form of accidental cell death. The process is characterized by an ATP depletion within the cell leading to impairment of ionic pumps, cell swelling, clearing of the cytosol, dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum and golgi apparatus, mitochondrial condensation, chromatin clumping, and cytoplasmic bleb formation. Oncosis refers to a series of cellular reactions following injury that precedes cell death. The process of oncosis is divided into three stages. First, the cell becomes committed to oncosis as a result of damage incurred to the plasma membrane through toxicity or ischemia, resulting in the leak of ions and water due to ATP depletion. The ionic imbalance that occurs subsequently causes the cell to swell without a concurrent change in membrane permeability to reverse the swelling. In stage two, the reversibility threshold for the cell is passed and the cell becomes committed to cell death. During this stage the membrane becomes abnormally permeable to trypan blue and propidium iodide, indicating membrane compromise. The final stage is cell death and removal of the cell via phagocytosis mediated by an inflammatory response.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium aluminium germanium phosphate</span> Chemical compound

Lithium aluminium germanium phosphate, typically known with the acronyms LAGP or LAGPO, is an inorganic ceramic solid material whose general formula is Li
1+x
Al
x
Ge
2-x
(PO
4
)
3
. LAGP belongs to the NASICON family of solid conductors and has been applied as a solid electrolyte in all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Typical values of ionic conductivity in LAGP at room temperature are in the range of 10–5 - 10–4 S/cm, even if the actual value of conductivity is strongly affected by stoichiometry, microstructure, and synthesis conditions. Compared to lithium aluminium titanium phosphate (LATP), which is another phosphate-based lithium solid conductor, the absence of titanium in LAGP improves its stability towards lithium metal. In addition, phosphate-based solid electrolytes have superior stability against moisture and oxygen compared to sulfide-based electrolytes like Li
10
GeP
2
S
12
(LGPS) and can be handled safely in air, thus simplifying the manufacture process. Since the best performances are encountered when the stoichiometric value of x is 0.5, the acronym LAGP usually indicates the particular composition of Li
1.5
Al
0.5
Ge
1.5
(PO
4
)
3
, which is also the typically used material in battery applications.

References

  1. Kareem, T. Abdul; KalianiIonics, A. Anu (March 2012). "Glow discharge plasma electrolysis for nanoparticles synthesis". Ionics. 18 (3): 315–327. doi:10.1007/s11581-011-0639-y. S2CID   135482490.