Plasma

In physics and chemistry, Plasma describes any substance where there is an ionic charge separation. A plasma can be either a solid or a gas, or more rarely a liquid. Plasmas show a marked difference in electrical and thermal conductivity compared to non-plasmas. Metals are an example of solid plasmas, they are plasmas, because there exists delocalized charge-carrying electrons. It is this property of metals that allows them to be good electrical and thermal conductors. Table salt is also an example of a solid plasma, as it is an ionic solid, there exists a lattice of charge-carrying ions, although they are not delocalized. In order to replicate the properties of metals, table salt has to be molten for the charges to move freely. An example of a gas plasma is fire produced by a combustion reaction, where there is a large amount of transitional ionization occuring. Liquid and gas plasmas are highly responsive to electromagnetic fields due to the mobilization of charge carriers (electrons, cations, anions). Generally, plasmas behave very much like their respective states of matter, except for the supplementary behaviour associated with plasmas.

The type of plasma most often encountered in the Halo universe is gas plasma with an exceptionally high mass fraction of charge carriers. The closer the fraction is to unity, the more pronouced is the plasmic behaviour and responses to electromagnetic fields.

Covenant
The Covenant military uses plasma as a weapon form to great effect, containing and guiding it in the form of a single bolt, beam, or continuous stream. Plasma-based weapons are the most common armament of Covenant infantry and vehicular forces, and the main armament of their warships, dominating almost the entire weapon arsenal. Small arms are designed to deplete shielding or melt infantry armor, while heavier weapons can destroy vehicles or buildings. The largest are mounted onto capital ships and are used for orbital bombardment and ship-to-ship combat, and can reduce a ship's hull to a pile of molten metal floating in space. When a plasma weapon is charging, a high quantity of beta particle radiation is emitted.

UNSC
The UNSC uses plasma as an energy source and to cut heavy metals in factories. There was an attempt, however, to produce a tank with plasma-based weaponry for the armed services, but it was abandoned, falling back on projectile weaponry.

Forerunner
The only known Forerunner constructs to use plasma weaponry are the Sentinels.

Armor
Complete armor protection from plasma is generally difficult to obtain due to the plasma's high damage ratio. The armor used by the UNSC marines usually has a good protection from plasma, but only to an extent. A series of hits from a plasma weapon will literally melt or burn the armor, rendering it useless. The SPARTAN-II armor variant is similar the Marines' armor, in that it will eventually give way to the plasma. Some newer versions of the Spartans' armor boast energy shields, which provide additional protection from plasma, although shielding systems can be completely depleted by sustained plasma fire, or a single, overcharged bolt.

Ships
It is unknown if the protection of the UNSC ships is sufficient against plasma weaponry. The Titanium armored battle-plate used on UNSC warships has a melting point of 1668 degrees Centigrade, however plasma, as said in the book Halo: The Ghost of Onyx is said to be around 3,000 degrees C. If the UNSC decided to use a tungsten alloy battle plating, then their ship's chances of survival could be increased substantially, since tungsten melts at 3,448 degrees C. However, it is possible that since the UNSC uses Titanium-A, an augmented state of titanium, that the melting point of their starship armor is much higher than suspected.

Trivia

 * For gameplay reasons, plasma is less lethal to unshielded NPCs in the Halo games than in the novels. In the games, Marines can take a barrage from a plasma weapon without being incapacitated, but in the books there are several instances of plasma easily burning through both armor and flesh. This disparity is due to gameplay mechanics, rather than being a canon contradiction.
 * It should be noted that in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the plasma on some of the plasma based weaponry, most notably the Energy Sword, can be seen even when Active Camouflage/Invisibility has been activated.
 * Plasma is the most common state of matter in the universe.