Ana Sobota holds a Dipl.Ing. degree in Phyics from the University of Zagreb, Croatia and a PhD in Plasma Physics from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, 2011). During her PhD studies, she also worked at Philips Lighting. She did two postdocs, at TU/e from 2011 to 2012 and at École Polytechnique (France) from 2012 to 2013. She started her current position as Assistant Professor at TU/e in 2013.

Ana is now Associate Professor in the Elementary Processes in Gas Discharges group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Her areas of expertise include atmospheric pressure discharges, fast transient phenomena, and non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas and their interaction with targets. She is particularly interested in the interaction of plasma with (complex) targets such as biological tissue, and its application in e.g. medicine and agriculture.

In recent years the non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas have undergone intense development because they were found to be suitable for applications on sensitive substrates, including polymers, but also organic matter and even living tissue. However, they are also a rich source of research questions, as their complexity makes it challenging to isolate and study the mechanisms that play a role in their development. Their transient nature and small scale also make it difficult to measure their fundamental properties.

This talk addresses the interaction between the non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas and different types of substrates, with the most emphasis on dielectrics and water. The focus will be on the gas-phase properties of the plasma and how the presence of the liquid influences them.