A laboratory plasma is an ionized gas produced and confined under controlled experimental conditions to study fundamental plasma behavior and simulate space, astrophysical, or fusion-relevant environments. It is generated by applying electric fields, electromagnetic waves, lasers, or discharge currents to a neutral gas, creating a quasi-neutral mixture of ions, electrons, and neutrals characterized by collective interactions and long-range Coulomb forces. Laboratory plasmas span regimes from low-temperature, weakly ionized discharges to high-temperature, magnetically confined fusion plasmas, enabling investigation of transport, turbulence, wave–particle interactions, reconnection, and plasma–surface or plasma–material interactions under reproducible, diagnosable conditions.
A multi-institutional team of physicists and engineers has developed a laser-based radiation detection system that operates from as far away as 10 meters and perhaps farther. Their research is published in the journal Physical ...
Gas sensing technologies play a vital role in our modern world, from ensuring our safety in homes and workplaces to monitoring environmental pollution and industrial processes. Traditional gas sensors, while effective, often ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 25, 2025
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30
1,337 seconds: that was how long WEST, a tokamak run from the CEA Cadarache site in southern France and one of the EUROfusion consortium medium size Tokamak facilities, was able to maintain a plasma for on 12 February. This ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 19, 2025
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529
Creating and sustaining fusion reactions—essentially recreating star-like conditions on Earth—is extremely difficult, and Nathan Howard, Ph.D., a principal research scientist at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 18, 2025
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127
In physics, the term "isotropy" means a system where the properties are the same in all directions. For fusion, neutron energy isotropy is an important measurement that analyzes the streams of neutrons coming from the device ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 3, 2025
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87
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), commonly known as China's "artificial sun," has achieved a remarkable scientific milestone by maintaining steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for an impressive ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 21, 2025
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2432
In a pioneering approach to achieve fusion energy, the SMART device has successfully generated its first tokamak plasma. This step brings the international fusion community closer to achieving sustainable, clean, and virtually ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 21, 2025
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Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is developing a tokamak device called SPARC. The company aims to demonstrate the critical fusion energy milestone of producing more output power than input power for the first time in a device ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 20, 2025
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157
A joint research team from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully developed a continuous cryogenic pellet injection system for tokamak fueling. This innovative system addresses ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 15, 2025
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44
Microplasma devices are incredibly versatile tools for generating and sustaining plasmas on micro- and millimeter scales. The latest advances in nanotechnology now promise to expand their range of applications even further ...
Nanophysics
Jan 7, 2025
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