Fundamental Concepts in Gaseous Electronics

Abstract

It is beyond the scope of this book to even attempt a comprehensive treatment of fundamental concepts of gaseous electronics, which experienced immense growth during and after the Second World War. In this chapter the fundamentals behind the generation, loss, and motion of charge carriers are discussed. This is followed by a review of thermal excitation and ionization, definition of the plasma state, quasi-neutrality, and plasma sheaths. For a comprehensive treatment of the subject, the reader is referred to a number of books (Capitelli et al. 2012; Finkelnburg and Maecker 1956; Griem 1964; Gupta 2007; Huddlestone and Leonard 1965; Lee et al. 1973; Lochte-Holtgreven 1995; Massey et al. 1969; Mitchner and Kruger 1973; Müller and Weiss 2005; Reif 2009) that may be considered classics in this field.