PLASMA: FOURTH STATE OF MATTER

-Sayandip Nath (4th SEM, Physics Hons.)

In our day to day life we come across many things that we touch, see and has some definite
shape and size. In general, we term them as “Matter”. A matter is made up of tiny particles
called atoms. This matter can exist in either of the form solid, liquid and gas, which are also
interchangeable among these states. When the temperature of a solid increases, it becomes a
liquid. On further heating a liquid, it becomes a gas. Now what if we raise the temperature to
super high levels between 10000oC - 100000000oC or more? Will everything just still be a gas?

The answer to this question is obviously “NO”. In the year 1879, Sir William Crookes, using
“Crookes Tube” (an experimental discharge tube) passed high voltage through a voltage coil on
partial vacuum medium and observed sparks of light which was termed as radiant energy. Sir J.J
Thomson, a British physicist identified the nature of the matter in 1897. In the year 1928, Irving
Langmuir, an American physicist coined the term ‘’PLASMA”. A general definition of plasma can
be said as:

‘’It is a quasineutral gas of charged and neutral particles which exhibits collective behaviour”.

Due to these features, plasma is certainly

different from the other states of matter and it
is not wrong to refer it as the fourth state of
matter. A plasma is an ionized gas and is a very
good conductor of electricity which is affected
by magnetic fields. Like gases, it has no definite
shape and volume. It is also believed that 99%
of the universe is made up of plasma!!

The quasineutral feature of plasma implies that

the electron density is nearly equal to the ion
density and the collective behaviour implies
that the motion of species depends not only on
the local conditions but also on the state of the plasma.
There are 3 types of plasma:

{1} Non-thermal plasma: Here the temperature of electrons is around 100K.

{2} Thermal Plasma: Here the temperature of the electrons is around 10000K (nearly 1eV).

{3} Equilibrium High Thermal Plasma: Here the temperature of the electrons is around
1000000K.

Based on the forms of plasma, it classified into 3 types:

{a} Natural Plasma: They exists only at very high temperature or low temperature vacuum.
Example- Sun, Aurora Borealis.

{b} Artificial Plasma: They are created by ionising gases like Neon, Argon.

{c} Terrestrial Plasma: It is a plasma that blankets the outer reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Plasma posses a special ability to shield out external potentials which are applied to it under a
small region. This phenomenon is called Debye shielding. The external potential Φ0.

−|𝑥|
Φ(x)= Φ0e λ𝑑 , where λd = Debye Length, and expressed as,

𝜀0 𝐾𝑇𝑒
λd = , where,
𝑛𝑒 2

ε0= Permittivity of free space

K= Boltzmann Constant

Te= Temperature of electron

E= Electronic charge

For the Debye shielding to be a statistically valid concept, the number of particles inside a
Debye sphere must be very large.

4 𝛱 𝜀𝐾𝑇 3
Nd = 3 𝑛1/2 ( 𝑒 2 )2 must be very large.

When the electrons in a quasineutral plasma are displaced from their mean position, an electric
field will build in order to negate the cause producing it and restore the original neutrality. As a
result, oscillations take place, which is called plasma oscillation.

Electron-plasma frequency (ωp) is given by:

 𝑛𝑒 2
ωp= (𝜀𝑚 )2, where, me= Mass of electron
𝑒

Hence, there are 3 criterions to obtain plasma in a system:

(i) λd < L, (L is dimension of plasma)

(ii) Nd >>> 1
(iii) ωp ωc > 1, (where ωc is the collision frequency of electron)

There is a relation between breakdown voltage and working pressure to obtain plasma
between the electrodes, which is given by Paschen Law,
𝐵.𝑝.𝑑
Vb= 𝐶+ln⁡(𝑝.𝑑), B, C are arbitrary constant

Vb = the breakdown voltage

P= working pressure

d= distance between 2 electrodes

There are lots of application of plasma. A few are listed below:

[1] Neon sign bulbs, fluorescent bulb, plasma televisions.

[2] Used in making computer chips, semiconductors.

[3] It is also used in medical science to heal wounds.

[4] There days plasma is used in water treatment and seed processing.

References:

1) https://www.plasma-universe.com/plasma/ (1st picture).

2) https://lasers.llnl.gov/science/understanding-the-universe/plasma-physics (2nd picture).

3) A. S. Eddington, The Internal Constitution of the Stars, Cambridge University Press (1926).

4) www.iter.org

5) www.plasmas.org