Puzzling Plasmas - Stronger Than Atoms

To most people the word plasma conjures up the hot, dense ingredients of nuclear fusion experiments. But not all plasmas are like that. Other equally exotic types of plasmas - ionised gases - play an essential role in making microchips and coating materials with diamond or superconducting films. They could be the basis of safer ways to destroy toxic waste. This paper looks at some of the questions facing physicists as they wrestle with the complex and extraordinary world of plasmas.