This book is an up-to-date review of the most important plasma-based techniques for material modification, from microelectronics to biological materials and from fusion plasmas to atmospheric ones. Each its technical chapters is written by long-experienced, internationally recognised researchers. The book provides a deep and comprehensive insight into plasma technology and its associated elemental processes and is illustrated throughout with excellent figures and references to complement each section. Although some of the topics covered can be traced back several decades, care has been taken to emphasize the most recent findings and expected evolution.

The first time the word ‘plasma’ appeared in print in a scientific text related to the study of electrical discharges in gases was 1928, when Irving Langmuir published his article ‘Oscillations in Ionized Gases’. It was the baptism of the predominant state of matter in the known universe (it is estimated that up to 99% of matter is plasma), although not on earth, where the conditions of pressure and temperature make normal the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) which, in global terms, are exotic. It is enough to add energy to a solid (in the form of heat or electromagnetic radiation) to go into the liquid state, from which gas is obtained through an additional supply of energy. If we continue adding energy to the gas, we will partially or totally ionise it and reach a new state of matter, plasma, made up of free electrons, atoms and molecules (electrically neutral particles) and ions (endowed with a positive or a negative electric charge).

Francisco Tabarés is full professor at the Fusion National Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Spain. He graduated in chemistry from the University Complutense, Madrid (UCM), Spain, in 1977 and obtained a doctoral degree in chemical physics from the same university in 1983. From 1984 to 1986, he was a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He was also assistant professor at the Physical Chemistry Department of the UCM, vice president of the Spanish Vacuum Society, president of the Plasma Physics specialised group of the Spanish Royal Society of Physics and coordinator of the Fusion Plasma division in the Spanish Ministry of Science and Research. He joined the Fusion National Laboratory in 1987, where he has been the leader of the Plasma Wall Interaction team for 33 years. Dr. Tabarés has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and written 1 book and 6 book chapters. He has pioneered several research works at the international level, including atomic beam–based edge plasma diagnostics and novel plasma-based techniques for the cleaning and tritium control of fusion devices.