However, if you have read the literature and have been exposed to the subject for a while, you will find that the book is very basic and a little outdated. Chapman used to be the VP of Technology for a Plasma Etch firm when he wrote the 1st edition. Now he is (and has for some time been) President of a vacuumn diagnostics company. He really has not been updating this. With that caveat, if the other books/literature is "over your head" - go to this book for simply to understand explanations of so called "low temperature" plasma phenemena.


Great fundamental reference   August 22, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

While the specifics of various systems is dated, this is a great reference for the basics of plasma processing. Even though the equipment I use today is significantly more advanced I continually refer to this work for baseline information. The explanations are clear and well written. A rare example of a reference / textbook one can actually read.


Good introductory book, too expensive   May 6, 1999
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is the ideal book for beginning students attempting to navigate the maze of plasma physics for the first time. The book concentrates on developing an intuitive feel for ionized gases while including enough real physics to back up the intuition with numbers. It's unfortunate that the publisher has priced this work out of the range of the average student for whom it would be so useful.