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The High Temperature and Plasma Laboratory (HTPL) is a laboratory in
the Mechanical Engineering Department
at the University of Minnesota composed of five professors and their
students and postdocs. HTPL conducts research on several plasma-related topics
including materials processing, nanoparticle synthesis, chemical vapor
deposition, medical plasmas, and fundamental studies of both plasma arcs and
low-pressure plasmas.
Briefly, a plasma is a partially or fully ionized gas, and is sometimes
referred to as the fourth and most energetic state of matter. Plasmas
can assume many forms both naturally (lightning, the aurora borealis)
and artificially (fluorescent lamps, cutting torches) and are used
heavily in industrial applications such as lighting, welding, materials
deposition, waste destruction, and semiconductor processing. Plasmas
are commonly classified as thermal or nonthermal. Thermal plasmas are
characterized by partial thermodynamic equilibrium (the electron
temperature is equal to the heavy particle temperature), high energy
content, high temperatures, and high luminosity. Nonthermal plasmas are
characterized by a pronounced nonequilibrium between very hot electrons
and cold heavy particles.
Thermal plasma research currently underway in the HTPL includes arc
instability and plasma heat transfer studies, Anode and cathode heat
transfer investigations, modeling of plasma flow and reactions, plasma
spray nozzle development, development of process controls for plasma
and wire arc spraying, and thermal plasma CVD of hard coatings. HTPL
research on nonthermal plasmas focuses on synthesis of nanosized
particles and nanostructured materials, plasma applications for
nanotechnology, studies of particulate contamination in low-pressure
plasmas, and plasma modeling of particle nucleation, growth, and
transport.