https://phys.org/physics-news/plasma/ en-us The latest news on physics of plasma An international team of physicists has achieved a significant advance in laser science, demonstrating for the first time a practical route to dramatically boosting the intensity of high-power laser light. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-laser-plasma-mirror-path-extreme.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:00:14 EDT news695979301 Plasma, the fourth state of matter, consists of a gas in which electrons are no longer bound to atoms, which allows electricity to flow freely. When beams of particles moving close to the speed of light travel through plasma, they disturb electrons and drive so-called plasma waves. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-route-plasma-based-particle.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:40:05 EDT news696071586 Picture two materials sandwiched together. The boundary between them may appear flat, but, in reality, it is full of tiny bumps and dents. Suddenly, the materials are hit with a shockwave. If that wave hits a bump in the material interface, it slows down. If it hits a dent, it accelerates forward. This imbalance creates fast, narrow jets of material—called the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tiny-voids-fusion-stable-powerful.html General Physics Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:00:03 EDT news695572592 Scientists have directly observed muonic molecules in resonance states for the first time, using a high-resolution X-ray detector, a new Science Advances study reports. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-muonic-molecules-critical-muon-catalyzed.html Plasma Physics Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:40:02 EDT news695643962 For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that a laser-plasma accelerator can reliably drive a free-electron laser for more than eight hours. Published in Physical Review Accelerators and Beams, the result was achieved by a team led by Finn Kohrell at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with Texas-based company Tau Systems—and could soon make the technology vastly more accessible for a broad range of applications in industry and research. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-laser-plasma-free-electron-hours.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:40:03 EDT news695554789 When laser flashes hit matter, electrons are knocked off their orbits around the atomic nuclei. This can generate extremely hot plasmas composed of charged particles—ions and electrons. Researchers at HZDR have now observed this ionization process in more detail than ever before. To do so, they combined two state-of-the-art lasers: the X-ray free-electron laser and the high-intensity optical laser ReLaX at the HED-HiBEF experiment station at the European XFEL in Schenefeld, near Hamburg. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, deliver fundamental insights into the interaction of high-energy lasers and matter under extreme conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-copper-blasted-million-degree-plasma.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:40:04 EDT news695384221 Using high-intensity lasers, researchers have taken an important step toward miniaturization of particle accelerators by demonstrating free-electron laser amplification at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths (27–50 nm), with an acceleration length of only a few millimeters. By generating high-quality, monoenergetic electron beams (i.e. beams where all the electrons have nearly the same energy), they have achieved a key milestone toward compact accelerator technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-desktop-particle-realms.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:40:01 EDT news694254901 The ALICE Collaboration takes a step further in addressing the question of whether a quark–gluon plasma can be formed in proton–proton and proton–nucleus collisions. In the first few microseconds after the Big Bang, the universe was in an extremely hot and dense state of matter known as quark–gluon plasma (QGP), which can be reproduced with high-energy collisions between heavy ions such as lead nuclei. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-alice-primordial-plasma-proton-collisions.html General Physics Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:20:03 EDT news693221582 Lightning formation and the conditions triggering it have long been shrouded in a cloud of mystery, but new research led by Penn State scientists is lifting the fog. Using mathematical calculations, the researchers have discovered that lightning-like discharge doesn't require a storm cloud—it could be made inside everyday material on a lab bench. The study is published in the journal Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-mini-lightning-block-plastic.html Condensed Matter Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:10:06 EST news691951741 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the hottest place on Earth for the briefest of moments during an experiment. Now, it can be one of the brightest places thanks to the Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC), NIF's laser-within-a-laser. How this is possible and how it's measured is detailed in a paper in Physics of Plasmas titled "Development and scaling of MeV X-ray radiography at NIF-ARC." https://phys.org/news/2026-03-laser-mev-ray-radiography-picoseconds.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:40:04 EST news691672387 Scientists have long seen a puzzling pattern in tokamaks, the doughnut-shaped machines that could one day reliably generate electricity from fusing atoms. When plasma particles escape the core of the magnetic fields that hold the plasma in its doughnut shape, they stream down toward the exhaust system, known as the divertor. There, plasma particles strike metal plates, cool down and bounce back. (The returning atoms help fuel the fusion reaction.) But experiments consistently show that far more particles hit the inner divertor target than the outer one. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-plasma-rotation-simulations-fusion-reactors.html Plasma Physics Tue, 17 Feb 2026 11:05:41 EST news690548701 Harnessing the power of the sun holds the promise of providing future societies with energy abundance. To make this a reality, fusion researchers need to address many technological challenges. For example, fusion reactions occur within a superheated state of matter, called plasma, which can form unstable structures that reduce the efficiency of those reactions. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-ray-platform-images-plasma-instability.html General Physics Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:57:49 EST news690209822 In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, scientists have performed the first global simulations of monster shocks—some of the strongest shocks in the universe—revealing how these extreme events in magnetar magnetospheres could be responsible for producing fast radio bursts (FRBs). https://phys.org/news/2026-02-extreme-plasma-monster-explanation-fast.html Plasma Physics Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:00:01 EST news689596681 Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas is central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have relied on a technique called Thomson scattering, which uses a single laser beam to scatter from plasma waves as a way to measure critical information such as plasma temperature, density and flow. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-lasers-brighter-plasma.html Plasma Physics Thu, 05 Feb 2026 17:00:01 EST news689528206 Plasma mirrors capable of withstanding the intensity of powerful lasers are being designed through an emerging machine learning framework. Researchers in Physics and Computer Science at the University of Strathclyde have pooled their knowledge of lasers and artificial intelligence to produce a technology that can dramatically reduce the time it takes to design advanced optical components for lasers—and could pave the way for new discoveries in science. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-machine-plasma-mirror-high-power.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:50:01 EST news689269340 In its first moments, the infant universe was a trillion-degree-hot soup of quarks and gluons. These elementary particles zinged around at light speed, creating a "quark-gluon plasma" that lasted for only a few millionths of a second. The primordial goo then quickly cooled, and its individual quarks and gluons fused to form the protons, neutrons, and other fundamental particles that exist today. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-infant-universe-primordial-soup-soupy.html General Physics Wed, 28 Jan 2026 09:40:58 EST news688815585 Researchers have developed a new strategy to overcome a long-standing limitation in plasmonic loss by reshaping light–matter interactions through substrate engineering. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-spectral-slimming-yields-ultranarrow-plasmons.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:28:26 EST news688746481 In inertial confinement fusion, a capsule of fuel begins at temperatures near zero and pressures close to vacuum. When lasers compress that fuel to trigger fusion, the material heats up to millions of degrees and reaches pressures similar to the core of the sun. That process happens within a miniscule amount of space and time. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-code-microscopic-insights-macroscopic-world.html General Physics Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:38:26 EST news688322282 A research group has achieved a new plasma confinement regime using small 3D magnetic perturbations that simultaneously suppress edge instabilities and enhance core plasma confinement in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The research results are published in PRX Energy. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-east-plasma-confinement-regime-small.html Plasma Physics Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:51:35 EST news688218661 All celestial bodies—planets, suns, even entire galaxies—produce magnetic fields, affecting such cosmic processes as the solar wind, high-energy particle transport, and galaxy formation. Small-scale magnetic fields are generally turbulent and chaotic, yet large-scale fields are organized, a phenomenon that plasma astrophysicists have tried explaining for decades, unsuccessfully. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-velocity-gradients-key-large-scale.html General Physics Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:00:14 EST news688062781 In high-intensity laser–matter interactions, including laser-induced particle acceleration, physicists generally want to work with the highest possible focused laser peak power, which is the ratio of energy per unit area to pulse duration. Therefore, for the same pulse energy and focus, the highest peak intensity can be achieved with the shortest pulse duration. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-laser-pulse-sculpting-particle.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 09 Jan 2026 12:39:24 EST news687184742 At the heart of our sun, fusion is unfolding. As hydrogen atoms merge to form helium, they emit energy, producing the heat and light that reach us here on Earth. Inspired by our nearby star, researchers want to create fusion closer to home. If they can crack the engineering challenges underlying the process, they would create an abundant new source of power to eclipse all others. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-view-shockwaves-boost-fusion.html Plasma Physics Thu, 08 Jan 2026 12:05:57 EST news687096271 Researchers from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have designed innovative technology that can generate both high-energy and high-brightness electron bunches in an accelerator that is a fraction of the size of current particle accelerators. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-plasma-boosts-electron-energy-brightness.html General Physics Tue, 06 Jan 2026 09:18:34 EST news686913481 Researchers working on China's fully superconducting Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) have experimentally accessed a theorized "density-free regime" for fusion plasmas, achieving stable operation at densities well beyond conventional limits. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-tokamak-exceed-plasma-density-limit.html Plasma Physics Thu, 01 Jan 2026 14:00:06 EST news686323417 Warm dense matter is a state of matter that forms at extreme temperatures and pressures, like those found at the center of most stars and many planets, including Earth. It also plays a role in the generation of Earth's magnetic field and in the process of nuclear fusion. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-materials-hotter-sun-surface-electricity.html Plasma Physics Fri, 19 Dec 2025 10:32:24 EST news685362721 A professor at the University of Cincinnati and his colleagues have figured out something two of America's most famous fictional physicists couldn't: how to theoretically produce subatomic particles called axions in fusion reactors. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-bazinga-physicists-big-theory-problem.html General Physics Thu, 18 Dec 2025 15:50:32 EST news685295401 Producing fusion energy requires heating plasma to more than one hundred million degrees and confining it stably with strong magnetic fields. However, plasma naturally develops fluctuations known as turbulence, and they carry heat outward and weaken confinement. Understanding how heat and turbulence spread is therefore essential. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-reveals-roles-plasma-turbulence.html Plasma Physics Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:15:45 EST news684591301 When a gas is highly energized, its electrons get torn from the parent atoms, resulting in a plasma—the oft-forgotten fourth state of matter (along with solid, liquid, and gas). When we think of plasmas, we normally think of extremely hot phenomena such as the sun, lightning, or maybe arc welding, but there are situations in which icy cold particles are associated with plasmas. Images of distant molecular clouds from the James Webb Space Telescope feature such hot–cold interactions, with frozen dust illuminated by pockets of shocked gas and newborn stars. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-icy-hot-plasmas-fluffy-electrically.html Plasma Physics Mon, 08 Dec 2025 10:02:59 EST news684410561 Energy that would normally go to waste inside powerful particle accelerators could be used to create valuable medical isotopes, scientists have found. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-particle-cancer-materials.html General Physics Tue, 25 Nov 2025 05:19:34 EST news683270371 Physicists at the University of Osaka have unveiled a breakthrough theoretical framework that uncovers the hidden physical rule behind one of the most powerful compression methods in laser fusion science—the stacked-shock implosion. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-hidden-ignition-analytic-law-multi.html Plasma Physics Wed, 19 Nov 2025 09:04:56 EST news682765491