Non-Ideal Plasmas

Plasma electrodynamics is a very important and widespread branch of plasma physics that covers in particular such topics as plasma sheaths, plasma oscillations and waves, propagation of electromagnetic waves in plasma, plasma instabilities, magneto-hydrodynamics of plasma, and collective and non-linear plasma phenomena. Only the most general aspects of plasma electrodynamics relevant to plasma chemistry will be discussed here. Details on the subject can be found in particular, in books of Kadomtsev (1976), Ginzburg (1960), Boyd and Sanderson (2003), and Fridman and Kennedy (2004). 

Consider first the general concepts of plasma ideality. The majority of plasmas are somewhat similar to gases from the point of view that electrons and ions move mostly in straight trajectories between collisions. It means that a potential energy U a e l nsoR, 

Plasmas satisfying this condition are called ideal plasmas. A non-ideal plasma, corresponding to inverse inequality (3-226) and a very high density of charged particles, is not found in nature. Even the creation of such plasma in the laboratory is problematic. Probably only dusty plasmas can reveal non-ideal behavior. 

In most plasmas of interest Fe(i) 1, which means they are ideal. In a dusty plasma (Fridman Ketmedy, 2004) with a dust particle density n, charge Z e, and temperature 7d, the non-ideality parameter (which is also called the Coulomb coupling parameter) is 

Because particles can be strongly charged (Zd 1), dusty plasmas can be essentially non-ideal. 

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Ideal and Non-Ideal Plasmas. Based on relation (3-225), calculate the minimum electron density required to reach conditions of the non-ideal plasma (1) at electron temperature of 1 eV and (2) at electron temperature equal to room temperature. 

Fortov, VE., Yakubov, I.T. (1994), Non-Ideal Plasma, Energo-Atom-lzdat, Moscow. 

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