Seminar: Optical Diagnostics - an Indispensable Tool in the Development of Non-Equilibrium Plasma Applications

Abstract

Non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas offer a unique source of highly reactive chemistry. The plasma-induced chemistry is driven by energetic electrons. As a consequence highly reactive chemistry at ambient gas temperatures can be produced with promising applications in medicine, material functionalization, energy and pollution control.

The plasma reactivity can in principle be controlled by the voltage waveform that generates the plasma discharge. However as plasmas are self-organizing systems and their chemistry strongly influences the electron properties, the control of the chemistry is highly complex. We currently lack a detailed understanding of plasma chemistry and kinetics in many non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas.

In order to gain more knowledge of these complex systems, there is a strong need for improved diagnostics to increase the understanding of the underlying plasma processes. This is required to fully exploit the advantages of plasmas for many applications. The properties of atmospheric pressure plasmas can have spatial gradients on the micrometer scale and exhibit transient behavior down to nanosecond timescales. This poses enormous challenges on diagnostics and their interpretation.

During the seminar, I will give an overview of a few emerging applications of non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas. I will focus on the increasing interest in air purification and medical applications including wound healing. Several examples of diagnostics used to obtain the underlying mechanisms of these plasma processes and how they contribute to the development or improvement of plasma technologies will be discussed.

About the Speaker

Dr. Bruggeman is the Richard and Barbara Nelson Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He obtained his PhD in Applied Physics from Ghent University, Belgium in 2008 and was an Assistant Professor of Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands) from 2009 to 2013. His primary research interests are plasma-liquid interaction and non-equilibrium plasma kinetics applied to plasma processes for environmental, biomedical and renewable energy technologies.

Professor Bruggeman received several awards for his research including the 2012 Hershkowitz Early Career Award and the 2013 IUPAP Young Scientist Medal and Prize in Plasma Physics. He is section editor for Plasmas and Plasma-Surface Interactions of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. He is also a member of the editorial boards of Plasma Sources Science and Technology and Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processes and a review editor for Frontiers in Plasma Physics. He is an elected member of the board of directors of the International Society of Plasma Chemistry. Professor Bruggeman chaired the Frontiers in Low Temperature Plasma Diagnostics X held in Kerkrade, the Netherlands in 2013. He is also the technical area coordinator for Plasma Diagnostics of the 43rd ICOPS meeting in Banff, Canada and vice-chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Plasma Processing Science to be held at Procter Academy, Andover, NH later this year.

Hosted by Professor Igor Adamovich