Energy in plasmas

The chemical reactions occurring in plasma are very complicated and the mechanism of plasma polymerization has not yet been fully understood. The competing reactions running side by side depend always on the level of energy in plasma. These include, in the first order, the molecules decay processes and their re-synthesis. The resulting plasma polymers are often built not from the monomer moleeules but from their degradation produets, eombined with other moleeules eontained in plasma gas sueh as nitrogen, carbon monoxide or water. 

The probability for a particular electron collision process to occur is expressed in tenns of the corresponding electron-impact cross section n which is a function of the energy of the colliding electron. All inelastic electron collision processes have a minimum energy (tlireshold) below which the process cannot occur for reasons of energy conservation. In plasmas, the electrons are not mono-energetic, but have an energy or velocity distribution,/(v). In those cases, it is often convenient to define a rate coefficient /cfor each two-body collision process ... 

Phospholipids. Phospholipids, components of every cell membrane, are active determinants of membrane permeabiUty. They are sources of energy, components of certain enzyme systems, and involved in Hpid transport in plasma. Because of their polar nature, phosphoUpids can act as emulsifying agents (42). The stmcture of most phosphoUpids resembles that of triglycerides except that one fatty acid radical has been replaced by a radical derived from phosphoric acid and a nitrogen base, eg, choline or serine. 

Sources of matter and energy are necessary for the production of gaseous plasmas, and such plasmas serve as sources of matter and energy in their appheations ie, gaseous laboratory plasmas can be viewed as transducers of matter and energy. The initial and final forms of the material that enters a plasma and the requisite energy vary widely, depending on the particular plasma source and its utilization. 

Lasers act as sources and sometimes as amplifiers of coherent k—uv radiation. Excitation in lasers is provided by external particle or photon pump sources. The high energy densities requked to create inverted populations often involve plasma formation. Certain plasmas, eg, cadmium, are produced by small electric discharges, which act as laser sources and amplifiers (77). Efforts that were dkected to the improvement of the energy conversion efficiencies at longer wavelengths and the demonstration of an x-ray laser in plasma media were successful (78). 

Chemistry. The material and energy available in plasmas can be used to excite materials and drive chemical reactions. The unique characteristics of plasmas, especially thek abundance of energetic species, have been exploited in plasma chemical apphcations (79—84). 

Dielectric Deposition Systems. The most common techniques used for dielectric deposition include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sputtering, and spin-on films. In a CVD system thermal or plasma energy is used to decompose source molecules on the semiconductor surface (189). In plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD), typical source gases include silane, SiH, and nitrous oxide, N2O, for deposition of siUcon nitride. The most common CVD films used are siUcon dioxide, siUcon nitride, and siUcon oxynitrides. 

Lipoprotein metabolism is the process by which hydrophobic lipids, namely triglycerides and cholesterol, are transported within the interstitial fluid and plasma. It includes the transport of energy in the form of triglycerides from intestine and liver to muscles and adipose, as well as the transport of cholesterol both from intestine and liver to peripheral tissues, as well as from peripheral tissues back to the liver. 

The composition of body fluids remains relatively constant despite the many demands placed on the body each day. On occasion, these demands cannot be met, and electrolytes and fluids must be given in an attempt to restore equilibrium. The solutions used in the management of body fluids discussed in this chapter include blood plasma, plasma protein fractions, protein substrates, energy substrates, plasma proteins, electrolytes, and miscellaneous replacement fluids. Electrolytes are electrically charged particles (ions) that are essential for normal cell function and are involved in various metabolic activities. This chapter discusses the use of electrolytes to replace one or more electrolytes that may be lost by the body. The last section of this chapter gives a brief overview of total parenteral nutrition (TPN). 

Thermal CVD, reviewed above, relies on thermal energy to activate the reaction, and deposition temperatures are usually high. In plasma CVD, also known as plasma-enhanced CVD (PECV) or plasma-assisted CVD (PACVD), the reaction is activated by a plasma and the deposition temperature is substantially lower. Plasma CVD combines a chemical and a physical process and may be said to bridge the gap between CVD andPVD. In this respect, itis similar to PVD processes operating in a chemical environment, such as reactive sputtering (see Appendix). 

A more convenient way to achieve a plasma is with electrical energy, such as a low-frequency discharge. By increasing the electrical energy in a fixed amount of gas, all molecules are eventually dissociated and complete ionization is achieved. 

Hypothermia slows down enzyme catalysis of enzymes in plasma membranes or organelle membranes, as well as enzymes floating around in the cytosol. The primary reason enzyme activity is decreased is related to the decrease in molecular motion by lowering the temperature as expressed in the Arrhenius relationship (k = where k is the rate constant of the reaction, Ea the activation energy,... 

Free fatty adds in plasma are a major source of energy, particularly under marathon conditions and in prolonged starvation. 

MHz was capacitively coupled to the substrate susceptor to control the ions energy in the plasma. 

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