Luís L. Alves was born in Lisbon, Portugal. He is a full professor at the Department of Physics of IST, and the Head of the group N-Plasmas Reactive: Modelling and Engineering (N-PRiME) of Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear (IPFN) with IST. His research focuses on the modelling and simulation of low-temperature plasmas, using a research methodology that involves the problem formulation, the development, verification and benchmarking of numerical tools, and the validation of the physical models by comparison with the experiment. Over the years he has developed many different numerical codes, extending from the numerical solution of the electron Boltzmann equation to the development of multi-dimensional dynamic models for reactive gas/plasma systems of interest for material science, biological and environmental applications. He is responsible for the development of the LisbOn KInetics (LoKI) simulation tools for plasma chemistry. Currently, he is member of the Scientific Council of IST and an Associate Editor of Plasma Sources Science and Technology.
Clio Azina was born in Saint-Affrique, France, in 1991. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Chemistry and Physical Chemistry of Materials from the University of Bordeaux in 2014, and went on to carry out a dual-Ph.D. hosted at the Laser-assisted Nanoengineering lab, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in the USA, and at the Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux, in France. She received her dual-Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Condensed Matter Chemistry in 2017. After a 2-year post-doctoral stay within the Thin Film Physics Division at Linköping University, in Sweden, she joined the Chair of Materials Chemistry at the RWTH Aachen University, in Germany, in 2020. Since 2021, she leads the Nanostructures and Complex Materials (NCM) group, which carries out research on the design and vapour-based synthesis of materials for energy and health applications. Recently the NCM group has been focused on nanoparticle synthesis by sputtering onto liquids, specifically in identifying the nucleation and growth mechanisms which take place with respect to sputtering conditions, target material, and liquid chemistry. Aside from nanoparticle synthesis, the group also develops oxidation- and corrosion-resistant coatings for extreme environments, as well as artificial solid electrolyte interface coatings for Na ion-batteries, to name a few.
Key publications:- Enhanced thermoelectric properties by embedding Fe nanoparticles into CrN films for energy harvesting applications. D. Pankratova, K. Yusupov, A. Vomiero, R. Boyd, S. Ekeroth, U. Helmersson, C. Azina, A. le Febvrier. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 7, 3 (2024) 3428-3435
- Ag surface and bulk segregations in sputtered ZrCuAlNi metallic glass thin films. M. K. Steinhoff, D. M. Holzapfel, S. Karimi Aghda, D. Neuß, P. J. Pöllmann, M. Hans, D. Primetzhofer, J. M. Schneider, C. Azina. Materials, 15 (2022) 1635
- Deposition of MAX phase containing thin films from a (Ti,Zr)2AlC compound target. C. Azina, B. Tunca, A. Petruhins, B. Xin, M. Yildizhan, P. O. Å. Persson, J. Vleugels, K. Lambrinou, J. Rosén, P. Eklund. Applied Surface Science 551 (2021) 149370
Jan Benedikt (Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Germany)
Jan Benedikt is a full professor at Kiel University in the field of atmospheric and low-pressure non-equilibrium plasma physics with focus on plasma diagnostic, plasma-surface interaction including the field of plasma medicine and interaction with liquids, and on synthesis of nanoparticles, nanomaterials, and thin films especially with respect to understanding of growth mechanisms and plasma-chemistry pathways. He studied physics, and especially plasma physics, at the University of West Bohemia, Plzen, Czech Republic, and obtained his PhD at the Eindhoven University of Technology (2004). He was awarded Hans-Werner-Osthoff Plasma Physics Prize in 2009 and John Coburn and Harold Winters Student Award in Plasma Science and Technology at AVS conference in 2003. He is author of eighty-five peer-reviewed articles including four review articles, and has been invited more than forty times to give an invited conference talk or lecture course.
Key publications:- Summarizing results on the performance of a selective set of atmospheric plasma jets for separation of photons and reactive particles. S Schneider, F Jarzina, J-W Lackmann, J Golda, V Layes, V Schulz-von der Gathen, J Bandow, J Benedikt, J. Phys.D: Appl. Phys. 48 (2015) 444001
- Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry of Reactive Plasmas. J Benedikt, A Hecimovic, D Ellerweg, A von Keudell, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 45 (2012) 403001
- Plasma-chemical reactions: low pressure acetylene plasmas. J Benedikt, J. Phys. D 43 (2010) 043001
Annemie Bogaerts (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Annemie Bogaerts was born in 1971 and obtained her PhD in Sciences in 1996 from University of Antwerp (Belgium). She is full professor in physical chemistry at University of Antwerp. She is head of the interdisciplinary research group PLASMANT, composed of chemists, physicists, engineers, biologists and biomedical researchers. Her research focuses on plasma chemistry, plasma reactor design and plasma-surface interactions (incl. solid catalysts, liquids and biomolecules), by computer modelling and experiments, mainly for applications in green chemistry (e.g., plasma-based CO2 and CH4 conversion, N2 fixation for green fertilizer production, green H2 synthesis,…) and plasma medicine (mainly cancer research). Her group counts ca. 50 members. Since 2005, she was supervisor of 59 defended PhD theses. She published over 650 peer-reviewed papers since 1995 (and about 25 invited book chapters), with over 40,000 citations in Google Scholar (h-index = 101). She has about 265 plenary or invited lectures at international conferences or institutes since 1995. She is also co-inventor of 13 patent applications since 2019, and co-founder of 2 spin-off companies of her research group.
Key publications:- R. Snoeckx and A. Bogaerts, Plasma technology – a novel solution for CO2 conversion? Chem. Soc. Rev. 46, 5805-5863 (2017)
- A. Lin, Y. Gorbanev, J. De Backer, J. Van Loenhout, W. Van Boxem, F. Lemière, P. Cos, S. Dewilde, E. Smits and A. Bogaerts, Non-thermal plasma as a unique delivery system of short-lived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species for immunogenic cell death in melanoma cells, Advanced Science, 6, 1802062 (2019)
- B. Loenders, R. Michiels and A. Bogaerts, Is a catalyst always beneficial in plasma catalysis? Insights from the many physical and chemical interactions, J. Energy Chem., 85, 501-533 (2023).
Jean-Paul Booth (Ecole Polytechnique, France)
Jean-Paul Booth is a CNRS research director at the Laboratoire de Physique de Plasmas at Ecole Polytechnique near Paris. In 2006-08 he took time away from CNRS to work at Lam Research Corporation in California, where he was a technical director responsible for sensors and endpoint detection applied to plasma etch reactors.
Before 2000 he was a CNRS researcher at Université de Grenoble. JP Booth specialises in the experimental study of physics and chemistry occurring in plasmas in reactive gases at low pressures, and their interaction with surfaces. He long focussed on radiofrequency plasmas for materials processing in the microelectronics industry, but is now working on more fundamental questions and rigorous model validation.
He has developed and applied many novel optical diagnostic techniques (one- and two-photon laser-induced fluorescence, broad-band absorption spectroscopy, cavity ring-down spectroscopy, synchrotron vacuum-ultraviolet absorption) to measure reactive species densities and kinetics, as well as electrical probes, microwave resonance techniques for plasma physics parameters, and simpler sensors for in-situ control of industrial plasma processes.
He also has an interest in the physics of capacitively-coupled radiofrequency plasmas: breakdown, electromagnetic effects in VHF plasmas, tailored voltage waveform excitation for control of ion and electron fluxes and energy distributions.
Key publications:- Optical and Electrical Diagnostics of Fluorocarbon Plasma Etching Processes, J.P. Booth, Plasma Sources, Science and Technology, 8, 249, (1999).
- Negative ions in single- and dual-frequency capacitively coupled fluorocarbon plasmas, G A Curley, D Maric, J-P Booth, C S Corr, P Chabert and J Guillon, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol 16 S87-S93 (2007).
- Strong Ionization Asymmetry in a Geometrically Symmetric Radio Frequency
Capacitively Coupled Plasma Induced by Sawtooth Voltage Waveforms
B Bruneau, T Gans, D O’Connell, A Greb, E V. Johnson and JP Booth, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 125002 (2015).
Peter Bruggeman (University of Minnesota, USA)
Dr. Peter Bruggeman is currently Professor and Associate Head of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He is also the Director of the High Temperature and Plasma Laboratory. Professor Bruggeman obtained his PhD from the University of Ghent, Belgium in 2008 and was an Assistant Professor of Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands from 2009 till he joined the University of Minnesota in 2013. His primary research interests are plasma-liquid interaction and non-equilibrium plasma kinetics and chemistry applied to plasma processes for environmental, biomedical and renewable energy technologies.
Professor Bruggeman received several awards including the 2012 Hershkowitz Early Career Award, the 2013 IUPAP Young Scientist Medal and Prize in Plasma Physics, the 2016 US Department of Energy Early Career Award and the 2018 American Vacuum Society Peter Mark Memorial Award. He is section editor for Low-temperature plasmas of the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics and an elected member of the board of directors of the International Society of Plasma Chemistry.
Professor Bruggeman published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals of which 12 have been selected as journal highlights. He has delivered invited and keynote lectures at over 70 international meetings.
Key publications:- Non-thermal plasmas in and in contact with liquids. P Bruggeman, C Leys, 2009, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 053001
- Electron densities and energies of a guided argon streamer in argon and air environments. S Hübner, S Hofmann, E M van Veldhuizen, P J Bruggeman, 2013, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 22 065011
- Gas temperature determination from rotational lines in non-equilibrium plasmas: a review. P J Bruggeman, N Sadeghi, D C Schram, V Linss, 2013, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 23, 023001
Diederik Depla (Ghent University, Belgium)
D. Depla has received his Master Degree in Chemistry in 1991 at Ghent University (Belgium). In 1996 he promoted with a PhD thesis in Solid State Chemistry on spray drying of precursors for superconductors. After a short period as senior scientist in the Department of Solid State Sciences, he became in 1999 Professor at the same department. His research focuses on the fundamental aspects of reactive magnetron sputter deposition. He has shown the importance of ion implantation on this process, and explained the discharge voltage behavior during reactive sputter deposition. In this way, his continuous research in this area resulted in several publications. He is now as full professor head of the research group “Dedicated Research on Advanced Films and Targets” (DRAFT). Under the guidance of D. Depla, the research group has distinguished itself from this rather technological approach, and has set an own course seeking for answers on fundamental questions related to film growth and process control. The unique approach of the research group to tackle these fundamental questions, has propelled the research group to the forefront of the thin film community and we are today recognized as one of the world leading groups in reactive sputtering. A simple “google.com” search on “reactive sputter deposition” immediately shows a few links to the research group or the PI. The American Vacuum Society recently acknowledged the work of D. Depla through the “Bill Sproul Award 2022” “for his persistence to unravel the fundamental processes during reactive magnetron sputter deposition”.
Key publications:- Tutorial : Hysteresis during the reactive magnetron sputtering process, K. Strijckmans, R. Schelfhout, D. Depla, Journal of Applied Physics 124 (2018) 2411011.
- Reactive Sputter Deposition, D. Depla, S. Mahieu (editors), Springer Series in Materials Science, Springer Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2008, ISBN 978-3-540- 7666-9
- Magnetrons, reactive gases and sputtering, D. Depla, ISBN 978-1-304-34781-7 (also available in a Chinese version : 阴极，反应气体和磁控溅射).
Olivier Guiatella (École Polytechnique, France)
Olivier Guaitella is a researcher of the Non Thermal Plasma group from Laboratory of Plasma Physics in Ecole Polytechnique near Paris. He has received is PhD degree in Physics in 2006 at École Polytechnique, member of Paris Saclay University. His main research interests are focus on plasma surface interactions and their influence on non-equilibrium plasma kinetics at elevated pressure. This work finds applications for indoor air treatment, Plasma/catalyst coupling, plasma in liquids, plasma jets and more recently CO2 recycling after spending a one year secondment in the group of Richard Engeln at Eindhoven University of Technology in 2014. He has also a strong interest in the development of new diagnostics techniques and has especially an expertise in infrared absorption techniques. He is member of the steering committee of the french non thermal plasma network since 2013.
Key publications:- Experimentally obtained values of electric field of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet impinging on a dielectric surface. A Sobota, O Guaitella, E Garcia-Caurel Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 46 (37), 372001
- Modes of underwater discharge propagation in a series of nanosecond successive pulses. I Marinov, O Guaitella, A Rousseau, SM Starikovskaia, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 46 (46), 464013
- Oxidation of isopropanol and acetone adsorbed on TiO 2 under plasma generated ozone flow: Gas phase and adsorbed species monitoring. C Barakat, P Gravejat, O Guaitella, F Thevenet, A Rousseau, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 147, 302-313
Sylvain Iséni (GREMI Orléans, France)
Sylvain ISÉNI was born Gien, France, on October 17th 1988. He graduated from the University of Orléans (France) with a Master of Science and an engineering diploma in 2011. The same year he spends six months as an ERASMUS student in the group of Prof. P. Bruggeman at TU/e Eindhoven (The Netherlands). Starting from 2012, he was a PhD candidate at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology, INP Greifswald where he received his PhD in Physics in 2015 from the University of Greifswald (Germany) with a study focusing on laser diagnostics of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet for biomedical applications.
After a post-doc at the Research Group in the Energetics of Ionized Media -GREMI- in Orléans, (France), he obtain a full researcher position at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 2017. His research topics deal with non-equilibrium –non-thermal– plasmas and plasma processes for environmental and biological purposes. This involves the development of original micro-plasma sources and the study of elementary processes in discharges and plasma-liquid interaction. His working field is also dealing with plasma diagnostics with a strong focus on optical emission spectroscopy to study key plasma parameters (e.g. electric field, electron density, neutral gas temperature, hydrodynamics...). He is also interested in laser diagnostics method to measure absolute densities of reactive species.
Key publications:- Atmospheric pressure streamer follows the turbulent argon air boundary in a MHz argon plasma jet investigated by OH-tracer PLIF spectroscopy. S Iseni A Schmidt-Bleker J Winter K-D Weltmann, S Reuter, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 47, 152001–152001 (2014 )
- Nitrogen metastable (N2(A3 Σu+)) in a cold argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet: Shielding and gas composition. S Iseni P Bruggeman, K-D Weltmann, S Reuter, Applied Physics Letters 108, 184101–184101 (2016)
- On the validity of neutral gas temperature by emission spectroscopy in micro-discharges close to atmospheric pressure. S Iseni, R Michaud, P Lefaucheux, G B Sretenović, V, Schulz-von der Gathen, R Dussart, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 28, 065003 (2019)
Holger Kersten (Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Germany)
Holger Kersten is a Professor at the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics at University of Kiel, Germany since 2006. Prior Professor Kersten was the head of the plasma processes group at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP Greifswald) in Greifswald, Germany. The focus of his research includes basic studies and diagnostics on the interaction of plasmas with surfaces, complex plasmas and their applications in plasma technology. In 1999, he received the Greifswald Plasma Physics Prize in recognition of his research. Professor Kersten was furthermore the president of the German Society for Plasma Technology from 2009 to 2013. From 2015 until 209 he was an Editor-in-Chief of the European Physical Journal D (EPJD) and currently he is an Editor-in-Chief of the European Physical Journal of Techniques and Instrumentation (EPJTI). In 2019 Kersten was the chair of the ICPIG conference and in 2024 of the PSE conference.
Key publications:- Experimental unraveling the energy flux originating from a DC magnetron sputtering source. S Gauter, F Haase, H Kersten, Thin Solid Films 669(2019), 8-18. (doi: 10.1016/j.tsf.2018.10.021)
- Nanoparticle forming reactive plasmas: A multidiagnostic approach. A Hinz, E von Wahl, F Faupel, T Strunskus, H Kersten, Eur. Phys. J. D 72(2018), 91. (doi: 10.1140/epjd/e2017-80372-6)
- Foundations of measurement of electrons, ions and species fluxes towards surfaces in low-temperature plasmas. J Benedikt, H Kersten, A Piel, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 30(2021), 033001. (doi:10.1088/1361-6595/abe4bf)
Tony Murphy (CSIRO, Australia)
Tony Murphy was born in Sydney, Australia (unlike Vasco Guerra) many years ago. He received a PhD in Physics from the University of Sydney, and subsequently did a postdoc at Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik. Since 1989, he has worked at CSIRO, Australia’s main government research organisation, where he is now a Chief Research Scientist. (A prize will be awarded to all who can say what CSIRO stands for).
Tony’s main research area is thermal plasma processes, including arc welding, waste treatment, and plasma property calculation. He has also worked on several other topics, including water splitting using solar energy, ice crystal nucleation in jet engine exhausts, and metal 3D printing. He was a member of the team that developed the PLASCON waste destruction process, and has led plasma modelling projects with several companies, including General Motors, Boeing and Siemens. He has over 200 refereed journal publications, and has been awarded research medals by the Institute of Physics (UK), Australian Academy of Science, Australian Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of NSW. He is Editor-in-Chief of Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, and a member of the Editorial Boards of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics and Scientific Reports; you are encouraged to submit your best work to these journals.
Key publications:- Calculation and application of combined diffusion coefficients in thermal plasmas. A B Murphy, Sci. Rep. 4 4304 (5 pp.) (2014).
- Thermodynamic properties and transport coefficients of arc lamp plasmas: argon, krypton and xenon. A B Murphy, E. Tam, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 47 295202 (10 pp.) (2014).
- A perspective on arc welding research: the importance of the arc, unresolved questions and future directions. A B Murphy, Plasma Chem. Plasma Process. 35 471–489 (2015).
Marina Prenzel (Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany)
Marina Prenzel is Science Manager of the Research Department 'Plasmas with Complex Interactions' at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RD Plasma). She received her Ph.D. in physics in 2013 on a study of reactive magnetron sputtering. For three years she worked as a Potdoc at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim (Germany) and moved at the beginning of 2017 back again to RUB, where she is responsible for the scientific organisation of the RD Plasma.
Key publications:- Investigation of different pre-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes by Raman spectroscopy. P Düngen, M Prenzel, C Van Stappen, N Pfänder, S Heumann, R Schlögl, Materials Sciences and Applications 8 (8), 628-641 (2017)
- Formation of crystalline gamma-Al2O3 induced by variable substrate biasing during reactive magnetron sputtering. M Prenzel, A Kortmann, A von Keudell, F Nahif, J M Schneider, M Shihab, R P Brinkmann, J. Phys. D.: Appl. Phys. 46 (8), (2013) 084004
- Ion-induced secondary electron emission of oxidized nickel and copper studied in beam experiments. R Buschhaus et al 2022 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 31 025017
Nevena Puač (Institute of Physics Belgrade, Serbia)
Dr. Nevena Puač is a principal research fellow at the Institute of Physics Belgrade working in the low temperature plasma physics field - low and atmospheric pressure plasmas, expert in numerous diagnostics methods and application of plasmas in biology, medicine and agriculture. She obtained her PhD at the University of Belgrade with a part of the thesis completed at the Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal. She was a PI of national technological project (TD 23016, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, 2008-2010), multidisciplinary project (III41011, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, 2011-2019) and PI at several bilateral projects. Currently she is the Action Chair and coordinator of the multidisciplinary COST Action, PlAgri-CA19110, “Plasma Agriculture for smart and sustainable agriculture” and was a leader of Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN project (Nowelties 812880) at the Institute of Physics. She has published more than 70 articles in international journals and publications. Her h-index is 24 with more than 1300 citations. Most of the highly cited papers that she has published are in the field of applications of plasma in biology and medicine. Until now she has supervised several PhD and Master and Diploma theses. She was co-chair and organizer of several conferences and workshops.
Key publications:- N Puač, M Gherardi, M Shiratani, Plasma agriculture: A rapidly emerging field, Plasma processes and polymers 15 (2), 1700174 (2108)
- C Bradu, K Kutasi, M Magureanu, N Puač, S Živković, Reactive nitrogen species in plasma-activated water: Generation, chemistry and application in agriculture, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 53 (22), 223001 (2020)
- S Tomić, A Petrović, N Puač, N Škoro, M Bekić, ZL Petrović, M Čolić, Plasma-activated medium potentiates the immunogenicity of tumor cell lysates for dendritic cell-based cancer vaccines, Cancers 13 (7), 1626 (2021)
Achim von Keudell (Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany)
Achim von Keudell is professor for experimental physics at Ruhr-University Bochum since 2003. Before, he was staff scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Munich.
A. von Keudell specialised in plasma and surfaces physics. His experience encompasses in-situ ellipsometry, infrared spectroscopy and treatment of surfaces with plasma discharges. His group has been the first to quantify elementary surface processes in plasma surface interactions involving hydrocarbon radicals and hydrogen atoms. These serve as model experiments for the understanding of thin film growth in glow discharges.
The projects until 2010 focussed on plasma technology particularly with regard to clusters in plasmas and plasma sterilisation. Since a few years, the research on reactive microplasmas developed with the emphasis on the fundamental understanding of the reaction chemistry as well as on on reactive magnetron sputtering and HPPMS discharges.
Key publications:- Direct insertion of SiH3 radicals into strained Si-Si surface bonds during plasma deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films. A von Keudell, J R Abelson, Phys. Rev. B. 59, 5791 (1999)
- Elementary processes in plasma-surface interaction:H-atom and ion-induced chemisorption of methyl on hydrocarbon film surfaces (review). A von Keudell, W Jacob, Progress in Surface Science 26, 21-54 (2004)
- Atmospheric microplasma jet source as depositing tool. J Benedikt, K Focke, A Yanguas-Gil, A von Keudell, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 251504 (2006)
