This is a comprehensive textbook designed for graduate and advanced undergraduate students. Both authors rely on more than 20 years of teaching experience in renowned Physics Engineering courses to write this book addressing the students' needs.

Kinetics and Spectroscopy of Low Temperature Plasmas derives in a full self-consistent way the electron kinetic theory used to describe low temperature plasmas created in the laboratory with an electrical discharge, and presents the main optical spectroscopic diagnostics used to characterize such plasmas. The chapters with the theoretical contents make use of a deductive approach in which the electron kinetic theory applied to plasmas with basis on the electron Boltzmann equation is derived from the basic concepts of Statistical and Plasma Physics. On the other hand, the main optical spectroscopy diagnostics used to characterize experimentally such plasmas are presented and justified from the point of view of the Atomic and Molecular Physics.

Low temperature plasmas (LTP) are partially ionized gases with a broad use in many technological applications such as microelectronics, light sources, lasers, biology and medicine. LTPs lead to the production of atomic and molecular excited states, chemically reactive radicals, and activated surface sites, which are in the origin, among others, of the deposition of thin films, advanced nanotechnology products, solar cells, highly efficient combustion motors, and treatment of cancer cells.

Autorentext

Dr. JORGE M. A. H. LOUREIRO received his PhD in Physics from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently Associate professor at IST, since 1994, where he accumulates 26 years of teaching experience on the following graduate and undergraduate courses: Electromagnetism and Optics; Classical Electrodynamics; Plasma Physics; Gas Discharges; Atomic and Molecular Physics of Plasmas.

Dr. Jayr de Amorim Filho received his Bachelor in Electronic Engineering from the Engineering College, São José dos Campos, Brazil (1987), and went on to receive his MSc from the Aeronautics Technology Institute (ITA), in 1989, and a PhD in Physics from Université Paris XI, Orsay, France (1994), where he spent an additional year conducting his postdoctoral research. He is now full professor at ITA, São José dos Campos, Brazil. His current research focus on Plasma Physics, Electric Discharges, and RF and microwave applied to biomass processing.

Inhalt

Part I Electron Kinetics.- Chapter 1 Fundamentals of Electrical Discharges.- Chapter 2 Kinetic Description of a Plasma.- Chapter 3 Boltzmann Equation in Velocity Space.- Chapter 4 Boltzmann Equation with Time-Varying Fields.- Chapter 5 Electron, Transport, Ionization and Attachment.- Chapter 6 Presence of Space Charge Fields.- Part II Plasma Spectroscopy.- Chapter 7 Classification of Equilibria in Plasmas.- Chapter 8 Emission Spectroscopy.- Chapter 9 Absorption Spectroscopy.- Chapter 10 Laser Spectroscopy.- Chapter 11 Applications of Low-Temperature Plasmas.