Object of Plasma Physics

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Part I
BACK

• Object of Plasma Physics

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I. Object of Plasma Physics

• 1. Characterization of the Plasma State
• 2. Plasmas in Nature
• 3. Plasmas in the Laboratory

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Natural and Laboratory Plasmas
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Typical Values for the Debye Length

• Typical values of Debye Length under different
  conditions
• n m-3 TeV Debye Length
  m
• Interstellar 106 10-1 1
• Solar Wind 107 10 10
• Solar Corona 1012 102 10-1
• Solar atmosphere 1020 1 10-6
• Magnetosphere 107 103 102
• Ionosphere 1012 10-1 10-3

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Interstellar Plasma Exploration

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Interstellar Plasma Exploration

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Interstellar Plasma Mission Objectives

• Measure the interstellar magnetic field and the
  density, temperature, and ionization state of the
  interstellar gas  
• Determine the interstellar spectra of galactic
  cosmic rays and their contribution to the
  ionization, heating, and dynamics of the
  interstellar medium.
• Determine the mass and velocity distributions and
  the composition of interstellar dust
• Measure the elemental and isotopic composition of
  interstellar plasma, neutral gas 
• Measure cosmic ray electrons and positrons and
  study their implications for galactic gamma ray
  production, recent nucleosynthesis, and
  interstellar radio emission 

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The Plasma in the Stars
The Sun a very old fusion reactor
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The Sun-Earth Connection
The solar wind is a stream of charged nuclei (H,
He) constantly emitted from the Sun
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Earth Magnetosphere
Dipolar Earth magnetic field
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(No Transcript)
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Earth Ionosphere
Ionospheric plasma interactions
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Earth Ionosphere (II)
The Sun
Galactic Cosmic Rays
Ionospheric plasma interactions
Earth Magnetosphere
Detectors on ISS
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I. Object of Plasma Physics

• 1. Characterization of the Plasma State
• 2. Plasmas in Nature
• 3. Plasmas in the Laboratory

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The Deuterium Tritium Reaction
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Fusion Experiments
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The First Tokamak (Moscow, Russia)
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The DIII-D Tokamak (San Diego, CA, USA)
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The DIII-D Tokamak (San Diego, CA, USA)
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The DIII-D Tokamak (San Diego, CA, USA)
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The Jet Tokamak (U.K.)
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The Jet Tokamak (U.K.)
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The Jet Tokamak (U.K.)
Inside the torus the Mascot Remote Handling
Manipulator on the end of the boom, during the
Remote Tile Exchange phase
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The Z-Pinch Concept
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The ZaP Z-Pinch Experiment (Seattle, WA)
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The MIT Levitated Dipole eXperiment (Boston, MA)
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The MIT Levitated Dipole eXperiment (Boston, MA)
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The MIT Levitated Dipole eXperiment (Boston, MA)
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The Field Reversed Configuration (Seattle, WA)
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Imploding FRC Experiment (Los Alamos, NM)
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The Stellarator (Garching, Germany)
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The Stellarator
Simulated Stellarator confined plasma surface
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The Helically Symmetric eXperiment (Madison, WI)
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Industrial Plasmas
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Industrial Plasmas (II)
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Industrial Plasmas - Consumer

• High-efficiency lighting
• Manufacturing of semiconductors chips (wafer
  etching)
• Flat-panel displays
• Surface treatment of synthetic cloth for dye
  adhesion

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Fluorescent Lamp

• A fluorescent lamp is shown here with part of the
  phosphor coating removed to reveal the blue
  plasma glow inside. The phosphor is the white
  coating on the lamp wall.
• The plasma excites lamp's phosphor coating to
  produce the visible light

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Arc Lamps

• In high-intensity arc lamps the light is
  generally produced directly by the plasma.
• Color characteristics are controlled by the
  chemical elements put into the plasma rather than
  by a phosphor coating on the wall.

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Plasma displays

• Plasma displays generally consist of two glass
  plates, each containing parallel electrodes,
  sealed to form an envelope filled with a neon and
  xenon gas mixture.
• A gas discharge plasma is created by applying an
  electric field between the electrodes.

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Plasma displays (II)

• The plasma generates ultraviolet light which in
  turn excites the phosphor coating inside the
  glass envelope.
• The phosphor emits a single color of visible
  light.
• Each pixel consists of three sub-pixels, one
  each of red, green and blue.
• By combining these primary colors at varying
  intensities, all colors can be formed.

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Isotope Separation

• Plasma sources and magnetic field control of
  gyrating charged plasma particles can be used for
  the separation of stable isotopes for medical and
  industrial use.

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Plasmas for Sterilization

• One-atmosphere plasma systems are now becoming
  available for various industrial applications.
• One-atmosphere plasma systems make possible new
  methods for surface cleaning (sterilization for
  food, medical, and other applications)
• Heat sterilization is time consuming and
  irradiation can damage materials this new plasma
  technology has been shown to kill bacteria on
  various surfaces in seconds to minutes.
• In addition to destroying bacteria, such plasma
  systems also destroy viruses, fungi and spores.
• These systems also provide an environmentally
  benign method for pre-treating surfaces.

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Aerospace Technology

• Modification of Aerodynamic Drag flat panel with
  a layer of one-atmosphere plasma undergoing wind
  tunnel testing. (Univ. of Tennessee)

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Aerospace Technology

• Microwave generated plasma around a catalyst for
  removal of NOx and CO from engine exhausts

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Aerospace Technology

• Test of electrostatic ion thruster in large
  vacuum chamber

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Aerospace Technology

• Robotically controlled plasma spraying of
  high-temperature shielding tiles