Low-temperature plasma modelling and simulation

Since its inception in the beginning of the twentieth century, low-temperature plasma science has become a major ¿eld of science. Low-temperature plasma sources and gas discharges are found in domestic, industrial, atmospheric and extra-terrestrial settings. Examples of domestic discharges are those used in lighting and plasma display panels (PDP’s). In industry, plasma sources are widely used for material processing; among the many applications are deposition and feature etching in the fabrication of electronic devices and surface modi¿cation of textile. More recently, bio-medical applications of plasmas have been developed. In order to improve the performance of scienti¿c and technological plasma sources, a thorough understanding of such devices is required. Traditionally, this goal has been achieved by carrying out experiments and modelling. In the last decades, numerical simulation has become an indispensable addition to plasma diagnostics, especially in situations where direct measurements are costly or dif¿cult to implement.