ODU RESEARCHERS RECOGNIZED FOR TOP PAPER

A topical review of microplasmas written by Old Dominion University bioelectrics researcher Karl Schoenbach and two colleagues has been selected as one of the top 30 papers published during 2006 by Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.

Schoenbach, who is Batten Endowed Chair in Bioelectrics Engineering and director of the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, wrote the paper, "Microplasmas and Applications," together with Kurt Becker of Stevens Institute of Technology and J.G. Eden of the University of Illinois. It appeared in the journal in February 2006.

Papers are selected for their presentation of outstanding new research, valuable
reviews of the field, praise from international referees and the highest number of downloads from the journal's Web site.

Research in microplasmas has seen significant growth in recent years as
applications are proposed in areas such as medical diagnostics, environmental sensing and lighted displays. Also known as microdischarges, the microplasmas are confined and relatively stable examples of atmospheric-pressure, non-equilibrium "cold" plasmas.

Together with Becker and Eden, Schoenbach hosted the Second International Workshop on Microplasmas in 2004 at the Stevens Institute in Hoboken, N.J.

Schoenbach was identified by Business Week magazine in 2001 as a leading researcher in the field of cold plasmas. He was the founding director in 2003 of the Reidy Center, which is a collaborative endeavor of ODU and Eastern Virginia Medical School. The facility is located four miles from the ODU campus in the city of Norfolk's Public Health Building.