UK Plasma Visions: the state of the matter

An Institute of Physics report | April 2012

Summary report prepared by the Institute of Physics Plasma Physics Group

This report was prepared by the Institute of Physics Plasma Physics Group Dr Declan Diver Chair of the IOP Plasma Physics Group School of Physics & Astronomy Kelvin Building University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QQ Scotland, UK

Tel +44(0) 141 330 5686 Fax +44(0) 141 330 8600 E-mail declan.diver@glasgow.ac.uk

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A SUMMARY OF THE

PLASMA VISIONS REPORT

1 INTRODUCTION

The Plasma Visions report has the following objectives:

to describe the diverse and high-quality impact of plasma science on UK strategic

research and innovative technologies;

to engage the existing community in defining the new challenges that will sustain

excellence;

to emphasise the importance of wider engagement with other scientific disciplines;

to identify the general resources needed to meet the current and future challenges,

with increased creativity and ambition;

to communicate the excitement, adventure and value of plasma science to potential

researchers, policy makers, funders and the wider community.

The report was compiled in order to communicate the breadth of activity and ambition within

the plasma science community in the UK and to inform potential research collaborators,

funders and policy-makers. This summary encapsulates the essence of the full report, which

is available on the Institute of Physics (IOP) Plasma Physics Group webpage

(http://www.iop.org/activity/groups/subject/pla/index.html).

It is important to note that the

Plasma Visions report has not

been commissioned by the UK

research councils or any other

funding agency. Rather, it is a

plasma community expression,

coordinated by the IOP.

Commissioned documents such as

the US Decadal Report on Plasma

Science1 and the RCUK Fusion for

Energy Report2 are valuable

insights into research strategy and

funding, providing a very helpful

additional perspective.

1 Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest, ISBN 0-309-10944-2, 2007.

2 http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/energy/20-yearvision.pdf.

An image of a typical plasma in the Mega Amp Spherical

Tokamak (MAST) fusion device at CCFE. © CCFE.

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This report also seeks to identify where the

new challenges lie in the broad landscape

of plasma science. It addresses how

impact can be delivered in the medium

term (5–10 years), and how the capability

of plasma science can be expanded and

shaped to meet these new challenges,

building on the UK’s world-class role and

leadership in plasma science.

Breadth and impact of plasma science

Plasma science is a diverse and lively

research frontier, with a wide-ranging and

profound impact on UK strategic science,

engineering and industry. Almost uniquely

among the physical sciences, plasmas

embrace the full breadth of research

scope: fundamental science, future

technologies and disruptive technology.

The diversity of application of plasma

science is extraordinary: from

environmentally clean nuclear fusion power

plants to exacting and intricate surface

processing; from immensely energetic

photon-matter interactions in the laboratory

and space to delicate healing of wounds in

plasma medicine – the all-encompassing

scientific and societal impact of this truly

far-from-equilibrium state of matter is remarkable.

Key questions that drive plasma science

Plasma science is uniquely placed as a scientific pursuit to address fundamental challenging

science questions such as:

What happens to matter under extreme pressure and temperature?

How do partially ionised gaseous systems behave at extreme scale lengths (from the

very small to the astronomically large)?

What governs the capacity of plasma systems to self-organise, and interact with

surfaces, including biological material?

Can plasmas provide unique chemical environments for non-equilibrium processes?

How can any of these plasma conditions be produced, harnessed, modelled and

diagnosed?

These questions underpin a world-class research effort that ensures continuous high-quality

innovation, technical advance and first-rate scientific inquiry. Plasma science plays a key

part in shaping the strategic scientific capability of UK researchers, creating science leaders

for the future and developing innovative technological solutions to grand challenges ranging

from energy to healthcare.

Orion2: Part of the amplifier chain for five of the

ten ORION “long-pulse” beam lines. Each de-

livers up to 500 J in 1 nano-second. The specif-

ic pulse shape of each may be individually var-

ied to suit particular experiments.

© British Crown Owned Copyright 2012/AWE

Published with the permission of the Controller

of Her Britannic Majesty's Stationery Office.

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Examples of excellence in impact and ambition

Implicated in many of these grand challenges is the plasma medium. For example, the

interaction between high-power, short-pulse lasers and solid matter can produce extreme

densities and temperatures; magnetically confined fusion reactors create plasmas with

intense magnetic fields and temperatures; micro-discharges generate plasmas of such tiny

dimensions that they defy the normal hierarchy of scales for classical plasmas; biological

systems react in surprising ways to atmospheric plasma discharges, both directly and

indirectly, with major implications for life and healthcare; the electrodynamics of planetary

atmospheres (including the Earth) has a significant impact on their thermodynamics and

chemistry, from lightning storms to large-scale ionospheric disturbances that impact on

satellites: particularly when influenced in turn by solar plasma activity.

Moreover, plasma measurement in such hostile environments is extraordinarily demanding

and acts as a driver for the development of ever more innovative and sensitive

instrumentation. Very often such extreme conditions can occur on vastly different length

scales: from the nanoscale to the cosmic scale, transport in ionised gases plays a central

role in shaping the evolution of matter

from being far from equilibrium to

achieving a measure of stability. The

science and observation of such

transitions are critical to understanding

matter itself and how it might be

transformed into functional materials,

stable fusion power, controlled strongly

correlated systems or non-thermal gas-

phase chemistry.

Synopsis of UK Plasma Visions

The challenge of cataloguing such

multiplicity in application is significant:

plasma science makes so many

underpinning contributions to an array of

fundamental disciplines that often only

the major highlights are recognised as

true plasma activities. The Plasma

Visions report aims to meet this

challenge by recording the remarkable

variety of scientific endeavour that is at

the core of plasma research and

application, and by constructing a

holistic overview not just of activity but

also of imagination and aspiration.

Based on extensive community

consultation, this Plasma Visions report

presents a snapshot of the current active

research frontiers and how they might

evolve over the medium term. Such

Monster Prominence: When a rather large-sized

(M 3.6 class) flare occurred near the edge of the

Sun, it blew out a gorgeous, waving mass of erupt-

ing plasma that swirled and twisted over a 90-

minute period (Feb. 24, 2011). This event was cap-

tured in extreme ultraviolet light by NASA's Solar

Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. Image courtesy

of NASA SDO.

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visions are encapsulated in the articulation of the scientific challenges that delineate the

leading edges of research inquiry, together with an outline of the stratagems that will enable

them to be confronted successfully.

Current strengths of UK plasma science

The following description of the strengths of plasma science in the UK was offered by the

community:

The UK plasma science community currently contributes across the entire spectrum of

activity, embracing theory and experiment, low and high energy, and ultra-rapid transient

science to larger timescales associated with sustained reactor or astrophysical conditions.

The UK enjoys world-class facilities in the magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) field through

the Culham laboratory (Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, CCFE), in laser–plasma

interactions (LPI) through the Central Laser Facility (CLF) at the Rutherford Appleton

Laboratory (RAL), and in high-energy-density plasma activity at the Atomic Weapons

Establishment (AWE). Their scientists and engineers, along with university researchers

whose studies benefit from these facilities, are among the best in the world.

A key strength of this activity is the many close links to excellent university groups working in

MCF and LPI, particularly in Imperial College London, Oxford, Queen’s University Belfast

(QUB), Strathclyde, Warwick and York, with experimental work undertaken on large laser

systems at the CLF, RAL and at overseas facilities. Imperial College London, QUB and

Strathclyde have medium-to-large laser facilities that are mainly used for in-house laser–

plasma investigations. AWE operate a plasma physics group largely using lasers to underpin

the physics of nuclear weapons. AWE is constructing a new large laser system (Orion) for

plasma research. Magnetic fusion work has historically been almost totally concentrated at

the Culham laboratory but is now moving significantly into universities, with theoretical and

experimental research groups emerging at the universities of Oxford, Warwick and York.

Owing to the necessary size

of magnetic confinement

facilities, experimental work

is largely undertaken at the

Culham Science Centre,

where world-leading

facilities (MAST and JET3)

are being, or have recently

been, upgraded, to provide

international impact into the

next decade. Small-scale

magnetic confinement

devices such as the linear

plasma device at York can

be used to study particular

basic plasma effects.

3 JET is hosted by CCFE on behalf of its European partners.

Atmospheric plasma discharges in air, using a variety of

circular electrodes. Image courtesy of Hugh Potts, Univer-

sity of Glasgow.

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The UK’s central laboratories also provide access to resources required for the study of

astrophysical and geophysical effects. Additionally located in the universities are strong

groups in low-temperature and astrophysical plasma research, including at Bristol, Glasgow,

Heriot-Watt, Liverpool, The Open University, QUB, Sheffield, St Andrews, Strathclyde,

Ulster, University of the West of Scotland, Warwick and York, with several of these

institutions combining astrophysical and geophysical plasma research in the same groups or

departments as laboratory plasma investigations. It is important to note that, whilst the

expertise and activity is world-class in the UK, much of the MCF, LPI, inertial confinement

fusion (ICF) and low-temperature experimental and theoretical plasma research is done in

collaboration with other world-class laboratories in the US, Europe and Asia.

Challenges across the plasma frontiers

The community has identified the following new challenges, amongst others, in a wide range

of plasma activity in no particular order of priority:

Underpinning the health and strength of UK plasma physics by securing trained staff.

Ensuring effective scientific interchange between all plasma scientists and engineers.

Preparing for, and studying, fusion physics in future fusion devices such as ITER.

Characterising in detail plasma-boundary physics, including tokamak edge physics.

Understanding surface evolution resulting from plasma impact, including

fragmentation.

Quantifying the precise causes and consequences of plasma turbulence.

Investigating the novel physics arising from focused laser irradiances >1023 W/cm2.

Achieving ignition in laser-induced inertial fusion.

Creating the next generation of high-energy particle accelerators using plasma

technology.

Investigating the complex interchange between discharge plasmas and liquids.

Creating novel pulsed-plasma sources for gas activation and ion beam generation.

Advancing the understanding of the physics of microplasma devices.

Understanding the reaction mechanisms that enable effective plasma medicine.

Harnessing specialist software that can be used for complex plasma modelling.

Creating the next generation of plasma measurement devices for extreme

environments.

Maximising the impact of plasmas across the range of industrial technologies and the

life sciences.

Strategies for meeting the challenges

The following suggested activities have been identified as appropriate to meet these

challenges: they are the community expression of the medium-term vision for plasma

science in the UK and are summarised in no particular order of priority:

Expand the pool of trained plasma scientists by (i) sustaining a comprehensive

doctoral training programme; (ii) investing in the research base and facilities to foster

career development and progression; (iii) maintaining sustainable diversity in

university plasma groups by more-effective links within the sector, and with research

facilities and industry.

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Promote effective interaction between all aspects of fusion and low-temperature

plasma science, for example in plasma source development for heating beams,

plasma-boundary interactions and complex plasmas.

Engage widely and fully with engineers, surface scientists, astrophysicists, life

scientists and industrial researchers to ensure the best possible advancement of

plasma science across the full range of applications.

Ensure that the UK has a world-class magnetic confinement device that will allow the

UK to maintain its global pre-eminence in MCF. Completing the MAST upgrade is an

essential step in this process.

Ensure strong UK participation in ITER, with preparatory studies on devices including

JET and MAST.

Develop detailed prototype MCF power-plant designs (DEMO) giving a clear route to

the realisation of fusion power.

Provide a new international standard magnetised plasma device for basic plasma

investigation, including stability, turbulence and surface interactions for applications

across space, technological plasmas and fusion.

Provide a dedicated long-pulse-capable 10 PW academic facility intermediate

between Orion and HiPER in order to strengthen the UK’s internationally leading

position in ICF and related research.

Create a dedicated high-repetition-rate laser facility (10 Hz, PW level) for laser-driven

particle accelerator research and applications.

Create the next generation of high-energy plasma accelerators based on plasma

technology.

Create a new low-temperature plasma facility that could draw together scientists and

engineers from a wide range of applications covering surface science, gas and liquid-

phase chemistry, and plasma medicine.

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2 BREADTH AND IMPACT OF PLASMA SCIENCE Plasma science is a multidisciplinary research area with an extraordinarily broad impact.

Although the mainstream plasma areas are readily identified as fusion (both magnetic and

inertial confinement), laser–plasma interactions and low-temperature (or technological)

plasmas, plasma science is often a key component of many other disciplines, including

surface physics, spectroscopy, astrophysics, biophysics, nanoscience and space science. In

order to bring out the influence of plasma science in these many contexts, the following sub-

sections provide details of the breadth of plasma science and its impacts on scientific

publications, research funding and commercial activity.

2.1 OVERVIEW OF PLASMA SCIENCE PUBLICATION DATA

The impact of plasma science in the general scientific literature is substantial. Whilst there

are clearly identified specialist journals that are either wholly dedicated to plasma science or

that have plasma science as a major sub-theme, there is also a host of less obvious serials

in which plasma science articles form a significant proportion of the total published output.

The aim of this section is to quantify

this diverse impact by highlighting

the range and frequency of relevant

publications based on plasma

science. For consistency, all figures

are taken from the ISI database for

the year 2009, in order that

published article figures are relevant

for the same year as the latest

citation index data are published.

The Thomson Reuters ISI database

of published articles (known also as

Web of Knowledge) can be

interrogated in terms of subject area,

geographical location of the authors

and citation statistics (among other

criteria).

Figure 1 shows the distribution of plasma science articles across traditional subject areas.

The data show that the number of published articles with plasma science content is 7,239:

4% of the total novel published content across Physics, Astronomy and Engineering for 2009

(figure 2). Comprehensive details of the journals used in this summary are available in the

full report.

The quality of the journals publishing plasma articles is also high: the average impact factor

data show that journals carrying plasma articles have a significantly higher impact factor

than those that do not (note that average here means the average overall 2009 impact

factor). Journals carrying plasma articles have an average impact factor of 3.4, which

compares well with the average impact factor of all physics journals (2.2) and all engineering

journals (1.2). This data can be found in section 4 of the full report.

The state-of-the-art broad-band laser developed to seed

the VULCAN 10PW upgrade in its development laboratory

at the CLF. Image Courtesy of STFC's Central Laser

Facility.

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For journals with an identified plasma sub-theme, plasma articles account for 12% of all

articles published in such journals (figure 3). Moreover, the US and UK together account for

one-third of all published plasma articles, with the UK alone accounting for 9% of the total

global output (figure 4).

In summary, it is evident that peer-reviewed research on plasma science contributes

significantly to the total scholarly world output in science and engineering; the journals that

carry such articles have uniformly better impact factors than the subject-area averages; and

finally, the UK contribution to plasma science publications is more than one-third of the total

US plasma science output. These three key conclusions demonstrate that UK plasma

science is significantly influential in global terms.

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2.2 SUMMARY OF RCUK AND GOVERNMENT FUNDING

The profile of research council funding since 2006 for plasma, materials, engineering, lasers,

biomedical, astrophysical, etc., all relevant to the above areas, covering EPSRC,

PPARC/STFC, NERC, BBSRC and charities, is given here. Full details are available in the

full report.

Plasma science has attracted funding across all research councils and research areas.

Grant awards in plasma science areas since 2006 (i.e. the last five years) reflect the

diversity of impact of plasma science. In the recent EPSRC Landscapes document,4

Plasmas, Lasers and Optics as a single entity within the Physical Sciences Programme was

identified as accounting for 10% of the total programme spend, amounting in value to

£30.7m. However, considerable plasma science content is funded across programmes and

themes, a fact that is recognised in the Landscapes documents themselves but not

quantified: in many cases, the databases available on the web contain very useful sub-

classifications that help to characterise the diversity of funded research, but unfortunately

grants can be classified under several areas, leading to misleading funding sub-totals.

In order to expose the interdisciplinary nature of plasma science, the following data have

been compiled from the Grants on the Web databases across all the research councils and

show the cumulative value of the grants awarded in the last five years (since 2006) in areas

linked to plasma science. Full listings of the individual grants are available in section 13 of

the full report; every possible effort has been taken to avoid duplication of grant counting

across disciplinary boundaries. These figures show how pervasive plasma science is across

the physical sciences and engineering.

4 EPSRC Landscapes 2009 can be found at http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/landscapes/

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Differences in the nature of the grants schemes, and the classification criteria, mean that it is

impractical to offer the same level of detailed breakdown as in EPSRC for all other research

councils and funders.

Note that the EPSRC figures exclude the facility cost of CCFE (see section 13 of the full

report for details).

2.3 INDUSTRIAL IMPACT OF PLASMA SCIENCE

It is apparent that there are no simple metrics of the direct impact of plasma industrial or

commercial activity on the UK economy. However, there are global market data available

that are strongly related to the plasma sector and convey to some extent the significance of

plasma activity in the strategically vital high-tech component of UK economic activity.

For example, BCC Research5 estimate the following sizes of relevant market sectors:

PVD (physical vapour deposition): $14.8bn by 2013;

thin film materials: $14.9bn by 2016, with sputtering and ionic deposition accounting

for $7.5bn of that market by 2016;

nanotechnology: $2.6 trillion by 2016;

advanced materials: $38bn in total by 2016;

ozone treatments: $838m by 2016.

Moreover, the latest UK government forecasts for UK economic activity6 predict huge market

opportunities by the middle of the 2020s: $100bn for nanomaterials, £150–350bn for

industrial biotechnology and £100–150bn for plastic electronics: all markets in which plasma

technology can and does play a major role. The UK government forecasts also lay out key

messages that reinforce the need to strengthen and develop plasma science innovation in

the UK: “...strong opportunities for growth in the UK economy through the 2020s if

businesses can harness scientific and industrial capabilities to take advantage of

5 BCC Research is a market information supplier: www.bccresearch.com

6 Technology and Innovation Futures: UK Growth Opportunities for the 2020s

www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/publications

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technology-enabled transformations in manufacturing...”; “Industry, SMEs and research

organisations should be encouraged to work together to develop their own strategies and

roadmaps...”. The Plasma Visions report attempts to advance these initiatives by providing

an industrial context to plasma activity in the UK to accompany the research-institution data,

and so help promote exchange and co-operation.

3 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SOURCES

The documents listed below provide valuable supplementary information relevant to this

report:

Further information on the CCFE programme can be found at http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/

including the Annual Reports http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/annual_reports.aspx.

Details on the EURATOM fusion programme are available at

http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/euratom/fusion/at-a-glance/index_en.htm.

RCUK report on Energy for a Low Carbon Future can be found at

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/energy/20-yearvision.pdf.

AWE annual reports and policies can be found at

http://www.awe.co.uk/publications.html.

CLF annual reports can be found at http://www.clf.rl.ac.uk/Publications/12000.aspx.

The BIS Foresight report on technology and innovation futures can be found at

http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/horizon-scanning-centre/technology-and-

innovation-futures.

4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The compilation of the Plasma Visions report was undertaken by the IOP Plasma Physics

Group Committee, the membership of which is as follows:

Dr R Bamford, STFC Prof. J Bradley, University of Liverpool Dr D A Diver, Chair, University of Glasgow Dr P Johnson, The Open University Dr S D Pinches, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy Dr R Kingham, Imperial College London Dr D O’Connell, University of York (formerly of QUB) Dr A Robinson, STFC (Hon. Treasurer, April 2011–) Dr K Ronald, University of Strathclyde (co-opted, 2010–11) Dr L Upcraft, Hon. Secretary, AWE Dr R Vann, University of York Dr E Verwichte, University of Warwick Dr T Whitmore, Henniker Scientific (until April 2010) Dr N Woolsey, Hon. Treasurer, University of York (until April 2011) Dr A R Young, University of Strathclyde Assistance from IOP via Tajinder Panesor, Claire Copeland and Sophie Robinson is also gratefully acknowledged. Additional insight and advice from Prof. N S Braithwaite, Dr J Collier, Prof. S Cowley, Prof. W G Graham, Dr T Hender, Prof. P Maguire, Prof. A D R Phelps, Dr A Randewich, Prof. S Rose and Prof. H Wilson have been instrumental in compiling this report.

For further information about this report, please contact:Sophie Robinson

76 Portland PlaceLondon W1B 1NT Tel +44 (0)20 7470 4887Fax +44 (0)20 7470 4848E-mail sophie.robinson@iop.orgwww.iop.org

Registered charity number: 293851Scottish charity register number: SC040092

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UK Plasma Visions: the state of the matterSummary report prepared by the Institute of Physics Plasma Physics Group

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