Langmuir probe
Sonda de Langmuir
- Date
- c. 1924 · confidence medium
- Place
- Schenectady, New York, United States
- Credited to
- Irving Langmuir
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What it is
An instrument with one or more electrodes inserted into a plasma that, by measuring current and electric potential, determines electron temperature, electron density and plasma potential; developed by Irving Langmuir in his studies of electrical discharges in gases.
What it led to
- Became a standard tool in plasma physics and fusion research
- Characterization of plasmas in industrial processes (plasma etching)
- Langmuir coined the term "plasma" in this research