https://phys.org/physics-news/plasma en-us The latest news on physics of plasma Nuclear fusion could be an ideal solution to mankind's energy problem, guaranteeing a virtually limitless source of power without greenhouse gas emissions. But there are still huge technological challenges to overcome before getting there, and some of them have to do with materials. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-materials-fusion-reactors.html Plasma Physics Tue, 05 Nov 2024 15:13:36 EST news650042010 Researchers are developing new ideas about the best ways to make lab-grown diamonds while minimizing other forms of carbon, such as soot. These diamonds aren't destined for rings and necklaces, though. These are the kinds that are needed for the computers, optics and sensors of the future. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-bright-future-diamond-electronics-sensors.html Condensed Matter Plasma Physics Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:13:06 EST news650020381 Heating a plasma for fusion research requires megawatts of power. One approach that research tokamaks use to achieve the necessary power input is neutral beam injection (NBI). With NBI, fast neutral particles are generated in a device called a beam source and then injected into the plasma. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-plasma-fusion-devices-unravel-electrons.html Plasma Physics Fri, 25 Oct 2024 12:40:34 EDT news649078824 Fusion energy has the potential to be an effective clean energy source, as its reactions generate incredibly large amounts of energy. Fusion reactors aim to reproduce on Earth what happens in the core of the sun, where very light elements merge and release energy in the process. Engineers can harness this energy to heat water and generate electricity through a steam turbine, but the path to fusion isn't completely straightforward. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-nuclear-fusion-energy-requires-resilient.html Plasma Physics Mon, 21 Oct 2024 12:16:04 EDT news648731761 Future fusion power plants will require good plasma confinement to sustain reactions and generate energy. One way to contain plasma for fusion reactions is to use a tokamak, a device that applies magnetic fields to "bottle" plasma. However, magnetic islands, a type of instability in the plasma, can destroy the confining magnetic field if they grow large enough. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-fusion-device-plasma-steep-ion.html Plasma Physics Tue, 15 Oct 2024 16:40:01 EDT news648229063 There is a profound mystery in our sun. While the sun's surface temperature measures around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, its outer atmosphere, known as the solar corona, measures more like 2 million degrees Fahrenheit, about 200 times hotter. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-uncover-role-plasma-mysterious-sun.html Plasma Physics Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:58:03 EDT news647870281 New artificial intelligence (AI) models for plasma heating can do more than was previously thought possible, not only increasing the prediction speed 10 million times while preserving accuracy, but also correctly predicting plasma heating in cases where the original numerical code failed. The models will be presented on October 11 at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics in Atlanta. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-ai-plasma-important-code-fusion.html Plasma Physics Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:35:05 EDT news647696096 In fusion experiments, understanding the behavior of the plasma, especially the ion temperature and rotation velocity, is essential. These two parameters play a critical role in the stability and performance of the plasma, making them vital for advancing fusion technology. However, quickly and accurately measuring these values has been a major technical challenge in operating fusion reactors at optimal levels. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-neural-networks-boost-fusion-rapid.html Plasma Physics Tue, 08 Oct 2024 11:40:02 EDT news647606401 Fusion researchers are increasingly turning to the element tungsten when looking for an ideal material for components that will directly face the plasma inside fusion reactors known as tokamaks and stellarators. But under the intense heat of fusion plasma, tungsten atoms from the wall can sputter off and enter the plasma. Too much tungsten in the plasma would substantially cool it, which would make sustaining fusion reactions very challenging. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-wall-behavior-fusion-reactors.html Plasma Physics Mon, 07 Oct 2024 11:15:53 EDT news647518550 Like atoms coming together to release their power, fusion researchers worldwide are joining forces to solve the world's energy crisis. Harnessing the power of fusing plasma as a reliable energy source for the power grid is no easy task, requiring global contributions. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-unique-fusion-reactor-due-global.html Plasma Physics Mon, 30 Sep 2024 11:01:05 EDT news646912861 A study led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory details how artificial intelligence researchers have created an AI model to help identify new alloys used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear fusion reactor. The findings mark a major step towards improving nuclear fusion facilities. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-database-alloys-nuclear-fusion.html General Physics Plasma Physics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 16:40:34 EDT news645982822 In a few picoseconds (trillionths of a second), a small, thin piece of copper momentarily becomes dense plasma, specifically a state called warm dense matter, warm being a relative term—the metal is nearly 200,000 degrees Fahrenheit. With the short duration of a high-powered laser pulse, copper shifts from a solid state to a plasma state in an instant before it explodes. Understanding the progression of heat in the copper is an exciting breakthrough in physics relevant to the interior of giant planets and laser fusion fuel cores. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-tracking-plasma-picosecond-physicists-ultra.html Plasma Physics Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:20:14 EDT news645891601 In a published in the journal npj Computational Materials, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists developed a deep learning model—a type of artificial intelligence that mimics human brain function—to analyze high-speed videos of plasma plumes during a process called pulsed laser deposition, or PLD. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-plasma-plume-analysis.html Plasma Physics Mon, 16 Sep 2024 12:49:31 EDT news645709769 Magnetic confinement fusion devices are technologies that can attain controlled nuclear fusion reactions, using magnetic fields to confine hot plasmas. These devices could contribute to the ongoing transition towards more sustainable energy production methods. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-gamma-ray-neutron-ratio-deuterium.html Plasma Physics Wed, 04 Sep 2024 09:11:45 EDT news644659900 Laser-plasma accelerators take up less space than conventional facilities, which are sometimes kilometers long. Such compact particle sources can accelerate electron bunches efficiently, enabling X-ray lasers that fit in the basement of a university institute. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-diagnostic-tool-laser-plasma-metal.html Optics & Photonics Plasma Physics Fri, 30 Aug 2024 09:06:30 EDT news644227587 Whether between galaxies or within doughnut-shaped fusion devices known as tokamaks, the electrically charged fourth state of matter known as plasma regularly encounters powerful magnetic fields, changing shape and sloshing in space. Now, a new measurement technique using protons, subatomic particles that form the nuclei of atoms, has captured details of this sloshing for the first time, potentially providing insight into the formation of enormous plasma jets that stretch between the stars. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-frothing-sloshing-plasma-instabilities.html Plasma Physics Tue, 27 Aug 2024 10:34:05 EDT news643973641 The world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator may be producing the world's tiniest droplets of liquid, right under scientists' noses. Researchers are digging into this subatomic enigma. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-particles-liquid.html General Physics Plasma Physics Thu, 22 Aug 2024 16:53:04 EDT news643564381 Inside the next generation of fusion vessels known as spherical tokamaks, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) envisioned a hot region with flowing liquid metal that is reminiscent of a subterranean cave. Researchers say evaporating liquid metal could protect the inside of the tokamak from the intense heat of the plasma. It's an idea that dates back several decades and is tied to one of the Lab's strengths: working with liquid metals. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-quenching-intense-fusion-plasma-require.html Plasma Physics Wed, 21 Aug 2024 10:52:04 EDT news643456321 Researchers at KU Leuven, the University of Colorado, Boulder, the Flatiron Institute, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently set out to answer a long-standing research question, specifically whether charged particles in the turbulent flows commonly surrounding black holes and other compact objects can be accelerated to very high energies. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-definitive-nonthermal-particle-magnetorotational-turbulence.html Plasma Physics Wed, 14 Aug 2024 07:20:01 EDT news642765202 Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have retrospectively confirmed that implosion asymmetry was a major aspect of fusion experiments before achieving ignition for the first time at the Lab's National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's most energetic laser. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-importance-symmetry-pre-ignition-fusion.html Plasma Physics Wed, 07 Aug 2024 16:30:07 EDT news642267003 Mayonnaise continues to help researchers better understand the physics behind nuclear fusion. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-deeper-stability-nuclear-fusion-mayonnaise.html General Physics Plasma Physics Tue, 06 Aug 2024 11:53:03 EDT news642163976 Some believe the future of fusion in the U.S. lies in compact, spherical fusion vessels. A smaller tokamak, it is thought, could offer a more economical fusion option. The trick is squeezing everything into a small space. New research suggests eliminating one major component used to heat the plasma, freeing up much-needed space. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-fusion-toast-plasma-microwave.html Plasma Physics Tue, 06 Aug 2024 09:30:36 EDT news642155430 If net-positive fusion energy is to ever be achieved, density is key: the more atomic nuclei crashing into each other, the more efficient the reaction will be. Nearly 40 years ago, Martin Greenwald identified a density limit above which tokamak plasmas become unstable, and the so-called Greenwald limit has at best been exceeded by a factor of two in the ensuing decades. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-madison-symmetric-torus-stable-plasma.html Plasma Physics Tue, 30 Jul 2024 06:42:53 EDT news641540567 Experiments at European XFEL generate states of matter that are close to what occurs in the interior of planets or in the imploding capsule of an inertial fusion reactor. At the same time, they open up a way to measure ultra-short phenomena. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-copper-transparent-european-xfel-exotic.html Plasma Physics Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:20:46 EDT news641463640 In high-energy physics, researchers have unveiled how high-energy partons lose energy in nucleus-nucleus collisions, an essential process in studying quark-gluon plasma (QGP). This finding could enhance our knowledge of the early universe moments after the Big Bang. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-high-energy-collision-reveals-insights.html General Physics Plasma Physics Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:25:40 EDT news640970733 A team of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has made advancements in understanding and resolving the long-standing "drive-deficit" problem in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. This discovery could pave the way for more accurate predictions and improved performance in fusion energy experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). https://phys.org/news/2024-07-physicists-uncover-key-inertial-confinement.html Plasma Physics Tue, 23 Jul 2024 12:09:02 EDT news640955341 When it comes to promising forms of energy, nuclear fusion checks all the boxes: it's clean, abundant, continuous and safe. It's produced when the lightweight nuclei of two atoms fuse together to form a heavier nucleus, releasing large amounts of energy in the process. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-3d-visualization-nuclear-fusion-life.html Plasma Physics Wed, 17 Jul 2024 16:00:44 EDT news640450841 Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have reported advancements in understanding plasma pressure profiles within flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion, a candidate for achieving net gain fusion energy in a compact device. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-advancements-fusion-insights-plasma-pressure.html Plasma Physics Thu, 11 Jul 2024 12:35:50 EDT news639920146 Researchers at European XFEL have developed an innovative method to study warm dense matter with unprecedented accuracy. This kind of matter, that exists between condensed matter and plasma physics, can be found, for example, in astrophysical objects or is created during inertial confinement fusion. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-european-unmatched-extreme-conditions.html Condensed Matter Plasma Physics Thu, 11 Jul 2024 10:46:27 EDT news639913584 Recently, the team led by Prof. Huang Qing from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed using a portable pulsed cold air plasma jet (PP-CAPJ) to treat Trichophyton rubrum in nails. They revealed that the shock wave from PP-CAPJ could effectively kill this fungus. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-plasma-jet-technology-effectively-fungal.html Plasma Physics Tue, 09 Jul 2024 15:33:58 EDT news639758035