ABSTRACT
I. TYPES OF GAS DISCHARGES Crookes (1879) first suggested that the ionized state of gases should be considered a fourth state of matter, and the term “plasma” was first used in the open literature by Langmuir (1929) to describe the state of ionized gases in discharge tubes. Since then, plasmas have become increasingly important for various industrial applications, since they represent the source of highest continuously maintainable temperature.
