Plasma generation and plasma sources

Abstract

This paper reviews the most commonly used methods for thegeneration of plasmas with special emphasis on non-thermal, low-temperatureplasmas for technological applications. We also discuss various technicalrealizations of plasma sources for selected applications. This paper isfurther limited to the discussion of plasma generation methods that employelectric fields. The various plasmas described include dc glow discharges,either operated continuously (CW) or pulsed, capacitively and inductivelycoupled rf discharges, helicon discharges, and microwave discharges.Various examples of technical realizations of plasmas in closed structures(cavities), in open structures (surfatron, planar plasma source), and inmagnetic fields (electron cyclotron resonance sources) are discussed indetail. Finally, we mention dielectric barrier discharges as convenientsources of non-thermal plasmas at high pressures (up to atmosphericpressure) and beam-produced plasmas. It is the main objective of this paperto give an overview of the wide range of diverse plasma generation methodsand plasma sources and highlight the broad spectrum of plasma propertieswhich, in turn, lead to a wide range of diverse technological and technicalapplications.