Opportunities and Challenges in Technological Plasmas

The presentation will be a personnel view of the practical opportunities and intellectual challenges for technological plasmas in emerging and future technologies and in addressing the important issues of energy and the environment. 1. Introduction This presentation will be a personnel view of the role technological plasmas will play in emerging and future technologies and in addressing some of the most important issues currently facing us: energy and the environment. It will also address the intellectual, educational and structural challenges that must be overcome to deliver the full potential of plasma technology. This abstract provides an overview of some of the issues which will be discussed and illustrated in the presentation. The phrase " technological plasmas " has surfaced recently as a collective term for the broad spectrum of gas discharges which find application in products, industry and services. It includes everything from high current, arc-based metal smelters to small, cool discharges that can be used in contact with the tissue of conscious humans. The term generally excludes the very hot, highly ionized plasmas created in for example laser-produced and fusion-related plasmas. All the plasmas under the technological plasma umbrella are of potential interest to the ICPIG community. The increasing broad spectrum of applications comes from the unique physical and chemical environment that plasmas can create. The possible constituents of a plasma system i.e. • electrons • positive ions (atomic and molecular) • negative ions (atomic and molecular) • electronically excited atoms and molecules and ions. • rovibrationally excited molecules/neutral, positive, negative) • photons (VUV to Far IR) • dissociation products (atomic, molecular/ neutral, positive, negative) • associative products (excimers/clusters/dust) • process products (atomic, molecular/ neutral, positive, negative} • contact surfaces illustrate their technological potential. The list also illustrates the extent of the scientific and engineering challenges in trying to understand the fundamental