Role
Dr Elmar Slikboer is a Lecturer of Physics at the School of Science and Technology. He leads experimental research focusing on the physics governing cold plasmas at atmospheric pressure and their applications. This has led to the publication of over 17 peer-reviewed articles. His teaching contributions are made to Bachelor's and Master's projects in Physics and the modules Fundamental Forces, Nuclear Material Science (NMS), Laboratory Interfaces & Control (LIC), and Physics & Technology of Nuclear Reactors (PTNR).
Career overview
Nottingham Trent University - School of Science and Technology
2022 - present: lecturer
University of Liverpool (UK) - Department of Electrical Engineering
2019-2022: postdoctoral researcher
Ecole Polytechnique (France) - LPP Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
2019: postdoctoral researcher
Ecole Polytechnique (France) - LPP Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
and Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) - Department of Applied Physics (EPG group)
2015 - 2018: PhD thesis "Investigation of plasma surface interactions using Mueller Polarimetry"
Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands)
2010 - 2015: BSc and MSc. Applied Physics
Research areas
Dr Slikboer focuses on experimental techniques to investigate the physics governing cold plasmas at atmospheric pressure and their applications. Cold plasmas are studied for a wide range of applications: for example, sterilization and treatment of biomedical samples (living tissue, wounds, cells, etc.), surface functionalization (wettability), and agriculture (green fertilizers). The reason for these numerous applications is the reactivity of the energized free electrons in the plasma while the heavy particles stay at ambient conditions. This means these plasmas are safe to touch while a cocktail of reactive species is produced (e.g. radical oxygen and nitrogen species in the air) combined with electric fields, metastables, ions and surface charges.
The experimental techniques used to investigate the breakdown dynamics and behaviour of the cold plasma include Mueller polarimetry, Thomson scattering, optical emission spectroscopy and flow visualization techniques like Schlieren imaging. Mueller polarimetry is used to exploit the Pockels effect of electro-optic targets, which allows the investigation of induced electric fields by the plasma when it interacts with a surface. Thomson scattering focuses on the electron properties of the discharge, giving an opportunity to measure the electron density and temperature. A recurring research goal involves gaining a better understanding of the physics that govern these plasmas with respect to breakdown dynamics, stability, and production of species. This aims to reach better controllability of the plasma-surface interaction, which is beneficial to all current and future applications.
Publications
Physics of plasma jets and interaction with surfaces: review on modelling and experiments
Plasma Sources Science and Technology
2022-03-28 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6595/ac61a9
Quantification of surface charging memory effect in ionization wave dynamics
Scientific Reports
2022-01-21 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-04914-8
Towards plasma jet controlled charging of a dielectric target at grounded, biased, and floating potential
Scientific Reports
2022-01-21 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05075-4
Characterization of an atmospheric pressure air plasma device under different modes of operation and their impact on the liquid chemistry
Journal of Applied Physics
2021 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1063/5.0039171
Impact of electrical grounding conditions on plasma–liquid interactions using Thomson scattering on a pulsed argon jet
Scientific Reports
2021-09-07 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97185-8
Characterization of a kHz sinusoidal Argon plasma jet impinging on water using Thomson scattering and fast imaging
Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
2021-06-01 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/ac0070
In-situ monitoring of an organic sample with electric field determination during cold plasma jet exposure
Scientific Reports
2020-12 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70452-w
More articles by Dr Elmar Slikboer can be found on ORCID or Researchgate.
Press expertise
cold plasma, diagnostic techniques and applications