Abu Dhabi: Abdul Rahman Saeed
A research team from Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi revealed a new fact regarding the properties of plasma that may contribute to the development of nuclear energy technology, as they searched for the properties of a phenomenon that occurs when a high-temperature plasma interacts with a solid surface.
The research team studied the mechanism of the barrier separating the plasma and the solid body from the various concentrations of positive ions in the plasma. This study is the first of its kind in the field of determining the properties of plasma consisting of 3 types of positive ions.
The team indicated that plasma is a difficult research topic that researchers from various disciplines are looking to discover, as a large part of the universe consists of plasma, which constitutes more than 99 percent of visible objects that include stars, nebulae, aurora, lightning and light halos.
They explained that plasma can be defined in general as the “fourth state of matter” following the solid, liquid and gaseous states. When the gas temperature rises, the molecules become more active and move more freely, and when a very high temperature is reached, the atoms themselves disintegrate and electrons separate from their nuclei to form charged particles, which are ions. positive and negative.
charged gases
For his part, Dr. Ioannis Korakis, associate professor in the research from Khalifa University, said, “Plasma consists of large groups of charged particles or gases that exist in various forms in nature and may be produced artificially in laboratories. On the other hand, plasma is manufactured in laboratories in rooms A large area specialized in electrical discharge experiments, where the plasma is separated from the surfaces of the walls through a thin positive area called the cover, and this happens as a result of the difference in the movement of ions and electrons.
He added: In the context, the plasma cover is formed when the plasma comes into contact with solid surfaces, as this cover contributes to achieving a balance between the flows of fast electrons and slow ions to maintain the neutrality of the plasma, and the plasma is a superheated gas, and the temperature of the electrons is generally equal to the temperature of the ions. It may exceed it, and the electrons can separate from the plasma, in the absence of a barrier confining them, faster than the ions due to their light weight, and when most of the electrons are depleted from the barrier separating the plasma and the solid surface, a plasma cover area is formed that contains positive ions and neutrons and at the same time it becomes The solid surface is negative with respect to the plasma.
Dr. Eunice said: “The process of forming a plasma cap is one of the oldest problems in the field of plasma physics. This topic is still not clear enough for researchers, and its importance lies in the possibility of modifying the surface properties of materials, stimulating electrostatic waves, and its role in the process of magnetic fusion in plasma.”
He added: The ions produced in the plasma consisting of many gases may have different speeds, and in the binary ion plasma derived from the argon and xenon gases, the argon and xenon ions move at the same speed.
