The Surprising Benefit of CreatingStars on Earth

3rd International Conference onthe Frontiers of Plasma Physics and

Technology

Presented byRichard Callis

June 5-9, 2007 Bangkok, Thailand

Outline

• Fusion Overview• Fusion Technology Spin-off (sample)

– Gyrotrons

• Innovations on Health and Medicine• Improving the Environment• Making Better Materials• Contributions to Science• Impact on Better Semiconductors• Summary

Fusion Process

Fusion Can be Accomplished in ThreeDifferent Ways

GravitationalConfinement

SUN

InertialConfinement

Fuel Pellet

IntenseEnergyBeams

MagneticField

MagneticConfinement

+

-

Nucleus

Electron

Magnetic Fusion Research Started to Make SignificantProgress Once The Tokamak was Invented

• Research of tokamak systems started in 1956 in theKurchatov Institute, Moscow by a group of Soviet scientists

• The name Tokamak comes from the Russian TOroidal'nayaKAmera v MAgnitnykh Katushkakh, meaning “toroidalchamber in magnetic coils”

• The helical stabilizing fields within a tokamak are createdby the vector summation of the toroidal fields produced bythe exterior coil set, and the Poloidal fields produced bycurrent driven within the plasma

Practical Fusion Energy Requires the Product of the ElectronDensity, Energy Confinement and Plasma Temperature >1021

m-3skeV

• Fifty years ago, ayoung Harwellengineer John D.Lawson developedthe triple productcriteria neτET>1021

m-3skeV• Since the 1960s

progress in fusionperformance hasbeen steady andcontinuous

• The next tokamak,ITER is designed toproduce 500 MWusing DT fuel

50 Years of the Lawson Criteria

Short Bursts of Intense Energy Can Heat a Fuel Capsule to FusionTemperature and Densities Before the Capsule Disintegrates

Four Steps of the Inertial Fusion Process

Progress in ICF Should Lead to an Ignition Demonstration by2010 on the NIF Laser Fusion Device

• Power capabilities of LaserSystems have increaseddramatically since 1970

• Equal development in capsuledesign and fabrication qualityhas lead to improved fusionperformance

• Ignition is expected from theNational Ignition Facility beingbuilt at the LawrenceLivermore National Laboratoryin 2010

• IFE needs extensivedevelopment in the areas of:

– Mass production of capsules– High efficiency drivers– Chambers that can take

repetitive energetic fusionpulses

To Achieve Fusion Energy a Wide Range ofTechnology R&D Has and Will be Required

• Progress in the following R&D areas opens the door tonon-fusion benefits– The complex physics of plasmas– Cutting edge computational capabilities– Sophisticated methods for heating fusion plasmas to

hundreds of millions of degrees– Innovations in materials, magnets and control

mechanisms– Creation of new diagnostics and sensors– Complex engineering innovations

• Heat removal, remote maintenance, impurity removal,etc.

– Micromachining and manufacturing– Extremely accurate tracking and targeting

• Application of High Power MicrowaveSources (Gyrotrons) Developed for HeatingFusion Plasmas

Sample Study

Electrons Can Be Selectively Heated by MicrowavesThat Are a Harmonic of the Plasma Frequency (ECRH)

• To meet the high power ECRH requirements of modernfusion energy research programs, high power microwavesources based upon the Gyrotron tube have beendeveloped.– Gyrotrons are high powered electron tubes which emit a

millimeter wave beam by bunching electrons with cyclotronmotion in a strong magnetic field.

• Gyrotrons in the 1 to 2 MW power level at frequencies of100 to 170 GHz are now under development.– Tube efficiencies of 40% to 56% have been achieved– The short wavelength of the microwaves makes it easy to

focus and direct the RF beam to select locations within theplasma, so that very localized heating or current drive can beperformed

The high power per tube, high frequency, and small focuscapability has made the gyrotron a useful tool for non-fusionapplications

Millimeter-Wave Processing of Materials

• Features of mm-wave material processing– Strong mm-wave absorption in most non-metallic materials. Even materials

usually considered as "transparent” for microwaves (pure Al2O3, BN,Si3N4) can be successfully heated at f > 30 GHz;

– Much higher uniformity of the electromagnetic field distribution is attributedto applicators with L >> l;

– High-intensity wave beams can be easily produced by focusing the mm-wave radiation in a λ2-spot. This makes it possible to use such wave beamsfor local surface treatment of materials similar to the techniques exploitedtoday (infrared laser, electron beams, plasma flows, etc.).

Presently there are three companies that commercially sell microwave sintering systems using gyrotrons developed for heating fusion plasmas

Communications & Power Industries GYCOM Fuji Denpa

List of Some Processes Currently UnderInvestigation

• Sintering of high performance structural andelectronic ceramics and composites (Al2O3,ZrO2, ZnO, BaTiO3, PZT, Si3N4, AlN, etc.) (Germany,Japan, Russia, USA)

• Sintering and joining of nanostructural ceramicsand composites (Al2O3, TiO2, ZrO2) (Germany,Russia)

• Synthesis of inorganic powder materials(MeFe2O4, Me = Ni, Co, Zn) (Japan)

• Modification of oxide thin films (BaTiO3,Ba(SrTi)O3, PZT, etc.) (Japan)

Joining of Dissimilar Ceramics viaNanostructural Interlayer

• Ceramics which arebasically transparent to lowfrequency microwaves areeasily heated with the highfrequency microwavesproduced by gyrotrons.

• Using simple mirrors a highpower beam can befocused onto the gapbetween ceramic parts.– A ceramic nano-

composite can be sinteredto join dissimilar ceramics

Spike Annealing of Ultra Shallow JunctionSi-Wafers

• Next generation CMOSchips, suffer from dopantdiffusion during the normalSpike-Annealing (>900 °C)

• Tests using 110 GHzmicrowaves @4 kW/cm2

achieved a heating rate of275,000 °C/sec and a peaktemp of 1300 °C in 4.5 msec.– Little net-diffusion of the

implanted dopants B+, BF2

and BF3 occurred.– Millisecond microwave

annealing produced ultra-shallow junctions meeting32 nm technology 2013targets

SimulatedTemp rise

4 kW/cm2

Measured

2.75 105°C/sec

High Frequency Microwaves can be Applied to EnhanceChemical Vapor Deposition Process (ECVD)

• Synthetic diamond can be formedusing Chemical Vapor Deposition(CVD) process.– This process is very time consuming,

with a 120 mm diameter, 2 mm thickdiscs taking 3 months to produce.

• Scientists at the Institute of AppliedPhysics have demonstrated that thisprocess can be accelerated if a 30GHz gyrotron is used to produce thecarbon seed plasma .

• This process called Enhanced CVD orECVD reduces the production timeby over a factor of three.

IAP diamond disk of 75 mm in diameter:a) - as grown (1.6 mm thickness at the center),b) - the disc after polishing -1.35 mm thickness.

a) b)

Microwaves can be Used for Surface Ablationof Concrete for Contamination Remediation

• Scientist at Oak RidgeNational Laboratory havedeveloped an applicatorthat uses the highfrequency gyrotrons toablate the surface ofcontaminated concrete.

• The microwaves penetrateonly a few millimeters intothe concrete and heat theabsorbed water to theboiling point, the flashboiling of the water literallypops off the top layer ofconcrete producing little tono dust.

Gyrotrons Have Been Applied to the Field of Protein Studiesby Increasing the Sensitivity of NMR Spectroscopy

• Dynamic Nuclear Polarization(DNP) is a magnetic resonancetechnique utilized to enhance thepolarization of nuclei throughirradiation of the electron spinswith microwaves in theneighborhood of their Larmorfrequency.

• Signal enhancements up to fortyhave been measured in the 13Cspectra of glycerol/water/TEMPO.

• An important component of thissystem is a compact 460 GHzfundamental gyrotron oscillatoroperating in the TE061 mode.

460 GHz. 9.4 T DNP NMR spectrometer in test at MIT

The Development of High FrequencyGyrotrons has Lead to Many New Applications

Innovations: Health and Medicine

• Fusion scientists working with experts in themedical and health fields have alloweddoctors to visualized objects within thehuman body without invasive surgery; toperform corrective surgery with less traumaand quicker recovery; to reduce thequantity of food lost to spoilage andcontamination; and a new way ofexcavating cavity in teeth without drilling.

A Laser Modeling Code LATIS (for LAser-TISsue) Helps Fight Strokes and Arthritis

• Medical researchers from the Departmentof Energy’s National Laboratories, as well asfrom universities and industry, have beenturning to LATIS for help in the design anduse of new laser medical tools.

– The codes are particularly useful in analyzingnovel laser systems used for photothermal,photochemical, and photomechanicalapplications.

• For these medical applications, LATISexplores laser-light propagation, thermalheat transport, material changes such asthermal coagulation and photochemistry,and hydrodynamic motion. LATIS wasoriginally funded as part of a LaboratoryDirected Research and Developmentproject looking at ways to diagnose andtreat stroke.

LATIS codes have beenused on experiments using a tissue welding system based on laser light.

Lasers Are Being Used to Help Stroke Patients viaEndovascular Photo-Acoustic Recanalization (EPAR),

• Researchers at LLNL havedeveloped unique technologiesto aid in the disruption ofthrombus occlusions. Thisminimally invasive technique,Endovascular Photo-AcousticRecanalization (EPAR), involvesguiding a catheter to the site ofthe occlusion and introducing anoptical fiber delivery system intothe catheter. Laser light iscoupled into the optical fiberand delivered to the occlusion,causing mechanical disruptionof the occlusion and re-establishing blood flow to thebrain.

A picture of a stress waveand vapor bubble createdby the deposition of laserenergy through an opticalfiber.

An X-Ray Catheter System to Address a Key Element ofHeart Disease Treatment Has Been Developed

• Following balloon angioplastyto reopen occluded cardiacarteries, scar tissue often formsin the artery during the naturalhealing process, blockingblood flow.

• Known as restenosis, thisclogging requires repeatedsurgery.

• Research has shown thattreatment of the arterial wallwith ionizing radiationimmediately after angioplastycan prevent restenosis.

• The x-ray catheter is a safe,cost-effective means ofdelivering this ionizing radiationin the form of x-rays.

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) Technology When Appliedto Food Processing, Destroys Microorganisms• In a PEF processing system, juices

and similar products are “pulsed”with a high voltage electric field asthey pass through processingassemblies.

• With PEF processing, food is notheated so its fresh qualities arepreserved.– In contrast, thermal processing (e.g.

pasteurization) can have a deleteriouseffect on a food’s taste, color, anti-oxidant content, and consistency.

• The world's first commercial scalepulsed electric field (PEF) processingsystem, based upon DiversifiedTechnology Inc's PowerMod™electronics, is in operation at OhioState University's department of FoodScience and Technology.

Control Cell PEF Treated Cell

Magnetic Fusion Research Pioneered the Development ofLarge, Precise, and Economical Superconducting Magnets.

• Thus when Magnetic ResonanceImaging, or MRI, started to becomea standard tool as a painlessprocedure that can see through boneand clearly outline soft tissues,producing images that are extremelyprecise without exposing patients toradiation or radioactive solutions,fusion magnet engineers appliedtheir knowledge to produce biggerand more economical MRI magnets.

• In the 1984 General Atomics andToshiba formed a joint venture toproduce MRI magnets and nowToshiba Medical Systems is a worldleader in delivering Open MRISystems to the medical field.– Over 750 of the OPART System

have been built

OPART MRI Systemdeveloped as a joint venturebetween Toshiba andGeneral Atomics

Improving the Environment

• Increasingly large volumes of toxic waste (createdby manufacturing and by production andconsumption of raw materials) require innovationsin treatment to stabilize and reduce its volumeneeded for disposal. Plasmas, microwave andcryogenic technologies developed and associatedwith fusion development are helping make moreefficient use of natural resources.

• The need for thermal processingin different areas of the industrysuch as municipal and solidwaste destruction, radioactivewaste vitrification, and cleanmaterial processing has triggeredresearch and development of highpower, contaminant-free, low-cost andlow maintenance plasma torches

• One of the main limitations of DC and AC plasma arc technologies is the limitedelectrode lifetime, which consequently requires frequent replacement, increasingcosts and maintenance

• Fusion researchers at MIT have produced a microwave efficient electrodelessatmospheric plasma torch.

– The process of plasma remediation of in-situ materials could provide a rapid, efficient,reliable and simple technique to selectively melt, vitrify or remediate contaminatedsoils, or objects at any depth underground.

– It appears to overcome most of the limitations of thermal vitrification techniques usingfossil fuels and electric heat sources

In-Situ Waste Remediation by Using PlasmasOffers a Novel Solution to Contaminated Soils

.

Fusion Cryogenic Pellet Shooters Have Been Modified to FireCO2 Pellets for Surface Decontamination

• The Oak Ridge National Laboratoryhas fostered the use of ultra-high speedinjection of cryogenically frozen pelletsof fuel into the high temperatureplasmas as a technique for cleaningcontaminated surfaces, using frozenCarbon dioxide pellets shot at highspeeds.– The high-speed frozen pellets are an

effective cleaning agent and leave noresidue (other than the removedcontamination itself) when they warmup and evaporate.

– A major attraction of this technology isits potential to minimize the generationof hazardous, radioactive and mixedwastes in the clean-up of nuclearfacilities.

The Cryogenic Blasterstrips metal a lot likesandblasters except it isnot as messy

Compact Plasmatron Reformers ProduceHydrogen-Rich Gas for Decreased Emissions

• The understanding of basic plasma behaviorhas lead MIT engineers and colleagues toperfect a microplasmatron fuel converter(plasmatron) device, that could turn foodstuffand various "biocrude" oils into fuel that couldreduce the nation's dependence on foreign oiland decrease emissions of the greenhouse gascarbon dioxide.

• The plasmatron could also significantly reducethe amount of smog-producing pollutantsgenerated by vehicles running on traditionalfuels.– Adding only a small amount of hydrogen-rich gas

to the fossil fuel powering a car is known to makepossible a significant decrease in emissions ofpollutants like nitrogen oxides.

MIT CompactPlasmatron

Making Better Materials

• The ever increasing challenge to thematerial science world to produce surfacesand material with greater endurance, hardersurfaces, have less friction, less wear andmore resistance to corrosion is being stronglysupported by the use of fusion technologies.

Rapid Crystal Growth Developed by LaserFusion Scientist

• The pursuit of better andcheaper crystals for laser fusionhas yielded a “rapid-growth”method to produce the world'slargest single crystal opticalelements.

• By understanding and thencontrolling the crystallizationprocess at the molecular level,complex microstructures can besynthesized that will affect manydisciplines and technologies,ranging from life-savingpharmaceuticals (such ascrystallized proteins, amongthem human insulin) to newoptical material.

The faster processing allowsscientists to grow the recordcrystal in six weeks;previous methods wouldhave required a growingperiod of 12-24 months toachieve the same result.

Fusion Laser Technology is Being Applied to theProcess of Cutting and Machining Materials

• By ionizing the material being cutremoving it atom by atom thecutting technique allows precisemachining of everything from steelto tooth enamel to very softmaterials like heart tissue.

• Each pulse of this machiningsystem is extremely short, lastingjust 50 to 1,000 femtoseconds (orquadrillionths of a second).– These ultrashort pulses are too brief

to transfer heat or shock to thematerial being cut, which meansthat cutting, drilling, andmachining occur with virtually nodamage to surrounding mate

Laser drilled hole in tool steel using aGeneral Atomics SuperPulse® solidstate laser

For cutting teeth, (a) a conventionallaser cutter causes heating andcracking a result of large thermalstresses, while (b) the femtosecondcutter produces a clean hole withno collateral damage.

Pulsed High Voltage Power Supply Technology isBeing Applied to PSII for Large Batch Processing

Image of a target assemblyof 1000 piston surrogates ina background ArgonPlasma.

• Plasma-Source-Ion-Implantation (PSII) isa plasma based process for surfaceenhancement, which uses an ionizedgas surrounding a target and uses highvoltage, high current pulses to attractthe ions into the target from alldirections.

• Diversified Technologies Inc. (DTI) hasadapted high-voltage pulse powerequipment used for fusion plasmaheating research to coat parts with lowfriction diamond-like-carbon films, usingthe PSII method.

– This process is very attractive to theautomobile, aircraft, and machine toolmanufacturers, who have long soughtways to enhance the surfaces oflightweight alloy parts to improve,wear lifetimes..

Carbon Fiber Production - Faster,Cheaper, Better with Microwaves• Research conducted at ORNL has

demonstrated the technical viability ofmicrowave heating of polyacrylonitrileprecursors to produce carbon fibers as analternative to conventional thermalprocessing.

• Results indicate microwave processingproduces fibers that are comparable indensity, electrical resistivity, and diameter tofibers produced conventionally.– Microwave processing times are 5 to 8

minutes, compared with conventionalprocessing times of 40 to 90 minutes.

– Microwave processing units are smaller,cheaper, and more energy-efficient than thehuge ovens used in conventional thermalprocessing of carbon fibers.

High Heat Flux Technology is Migrating toOther Industrial Applications• Plansee AG, working with the CEA in

Cadarache, France, has developedmethods for bonding carbon fibercomposite (CFC) to copper alloys bymeans of active metal casting(AMC®) for use in high heat fluxapplications in the pumped limiter forthe Tore Supra device as well as amethod of casting copper on totungsten and finally electron beamwelding to CUCrZr.

• Both these techniques have high heatflux applications:– copper casting is used in heavy duty

electrical switches and CFC AMC® isused in development projects for newspace shuttle prototypes and rocketengines.

Space shuttle project (X33)

Tungsten-CuCrZrElectrical Contacts

Plasma Facing Materials are Finding Use inAviation and Auto Racing

• Dunlop Aviation has supplied carbon-carbon (C-C) composite tiles toseveral fusion experiments.

• Success in producing low-density,plasma-facing components that cantransfer large heat fluxes whilstretaining strength at hightemperature has broadened thecompany’s product portfolio beyondits core aerospace market.– These include non-aviation friction

applications such as train brakes,brakes and clutches for Formula 1racing cars, high temperaturefurnace furniture, furnace heatingelements and heat sinks for satelliteelectronics systems.

Since the mid 1980s, DunlopAviation has worked closelywith fusion projects inEurope and North America todevelop and manufactureCarbon-Carbon composites.

Contributions to Science

• In overcoming the challenges offusion production and control, theboundaries and understanding ofscience in related fields is beingadvanced.

A Wide Variety of Astrophysics Phenomena can beInvestigated With Experiments on Intense Lasers

• Astrophysicist and space physicist are facedwith the problem of deciphering the fewclues that observations provide in order tolearn about the nature of stellar objects.– The clues most often consist of plasma

radiation, and a full familiarity with whatplasmas actually radiate is needed in order tolearn about the astronomical objects.

• Astrophysical phenomena can beinvestigated with experiments on intenselasers or by computer simulation.

• Some of the areas that are being studiedare:– the hydrodynamics of supernova remnants,

relativistic plasmas and gamma-ray bursts,behavior of dense hydrogen in Jupiter,magneto hydrodynamics in the Crab Nebula,turbulent hydrodynamics in supernovae, andradiatively cooled hydrodynamic jets.

Experiments on Taylor-Sedov blast wavesrelevant to SNR's werecarried out on thePharos laser

Understanding the Core of Jupiter

• High-power pulsed lasers built forfusion research are being used toexplore the high-energyrelationship between the volume,temperature, and density forsome elements.

• The shock compressionconditions achieved by pulsedlaser implosions can duplicatethe conditions found at the coreof large planets such as Jupiter.– The internal structure of giant

planets is very sensitive to theEOS of hydrogen and helium

– Some EOS models even suggestthere is no core in Jupiter, whichis counter to a standardplanetary evolution model

EOS of D2 has been measuredat P > 1 Mbar on Nova andNike; softening due tomolecular dissociationobserved

Better Eyes on the X–ray Universe

• Fusion scientists have helped build an x-rayspectrometer grating for the Multi-MirrorMission (XMM). The new spacecraft willprovide a more than 10-fold improvement insensitivity and resolution, and will send backa wealth of new information about the x-rayuniverse, akin to that provided by NASA’sHubble Telescope about visible lightradiation.

– XMM-Newton is ESA's second cornerstone ofthe Horizon 2000 Science Program.

– It carries high throughput X-ray telescopes withan unprecedented effective area, and anoptical monitor, the first flown on a X-rayobservatory.

– The large collecting area and ability to makelong uninterrupted exposures provide highlysensitive observations.

The European SpaceAgency's X-rayMulti-Mirror Mission(XMM-Newton) waslaunched onDecember 10, 1999

Theoretical Work on Fusion Nonlinear Dynamics isLooking at Other Chaotic Physical Behavior

• Nonlinear dynamics is the study of when extremeamounts of force or energy are applied tosomething, and its behavior becomesunpredictable and chaotic, as observed in achemical explosion and fusion.

• Since the underlying properties of fusion plasmasfollow fluid dynamics, the same nonlinear dynamicmodels and theories developed in the fusionprogram are being applied to other science areassuch as:

– instabilities at fluid interfaces ( a difficult and centrallyimportant issue for fluid dynamics, and impacts suchquestions as the rate of heat transfer by the GulfStream, resistance of pipes to fluid flow, combustionrates in automotive engines, and the late timeevolution of a supernova)

– dynamics of fluidized beds,– spatial patterns and shock waves in granular flows– crack propagation in crystalline and amorphous

materials.

Volume renderedvisualizationtechnique

Massive Parallel Computing is Bridging the GapBetween Large and Small Scale Disturbances

• The massively parallel computers nowbecoming available can relax the limitsthat have constrained computationalresearch for decades in the arena ofturbulence and transport.

• Earlier computer models could representsmall- or large-scale disturbancesseparately, but could not simultaneouslyresolve multiple scales, a key feature ofstrong turbulence.

• The ability to model the transport of neutralparticles (such as neutrons and photons)through matter is important to manyscientific and engineering activities.– Among these are reactor and shielding

design, development of medical radiationtreatment, and nuclear well loggingapplications.

Turbulent transportsimulation ofSupernova 1987A

X-ray image of theremnant of Kepler'sSupernova,

Fusion Research Yields BetterSemiconductors

• Semiconductor manufacturing is thearea in which fusion research andtechnology has made the greatestcommercial impact.

• Large wafers and small-scalecomponents would not be practicalwithout the tools and technologiesadapted from fusion.

Semiconductor Processing Needs LargeUniform RF Generated Plasmas

• Microscopic etching and deposition ofconducting channels and components on siliconwafers is now performed in plasmas controlledthrough the physics understanding and plasmadynamics pioneered through fusion research.

• Large wafer manufacturing has only come aboutby the introduction of large rf driven uniformplasma etching/deposition chambers, which relyon codes and rf plasma interaction dynamicsmastered within the fusion program.

– Two computer codes developed by the IPP inGarching, Germany to analyze the damage causedby fast plasma ions impinging on the walls of theplasma vacuum vessel are now enjoying world-wideapplication. The TRIM and TRIDYN programs are usedby semiconductor manufacturers and developers topredict and control ion implantation during doping ofsemiconductor chips. This process allows specifictailoring of the semiconductor’s electronic properties.

Parallel plate plasmaetch system. 50nanometer wide lineelements

To Produce Smaller Components Better Opticsare Needed

• Large-scale waferproduction is alsodependent on Improvedoptics developed throughlaser fusion research

• Optics play a key role inproducing and aligning thetemplates that control thedeposition and etching ofthe microscopic channelsand components onsemiconductor wafers.

The Ultra Clean Ion BeamSputter Deposition System,developed by LLNL, is used toproduce precise, uniform, highlyreflective masks. A keyrequirement of the nextgeneration Lithography systems

Development of UV and/or X-Ray Sources by FusionResearchers Will Lead to Smaller Chip Sub-components

• The desire for high speedmicroelectronic circuits isforcing the semiconductorindustry to produce designswith smaller and smaller sub-elements, which pushes thelimits of standard lithography.– the development within the

fusion program of intenseultraviolet and/or x-ray sourceswill allow a factor of tenreduction in the size ofsemiconductor devices.

Helios synchrotron(Oxford Instruments)

Summary

• It is apparent that the technology development thathas been performed in the pursuit of fusion energyhas lead to significant number of spin-offs.

• The limited length of this talk does not allow for acomplete coverage of this topic,– contributions not covered are in the areas of

Superconductivity, Space Propulsion, and Pulsed PowerConversion.

• Besides these contributions to so many scientific andtechnological areas, another significant contributionis the cadre of scientists and engineers who haveworked and trained in the pursuit of fusion energyand have taken their skills and knowledge out to theworld scientific community.

Fusion Technology Spin-offs

Semiconductor ManufacturingLarge area plasma etching and depositionExtreme Ultra Violet Lithography (EUVL)Thin film deposition EUV masksPrecision EUV optical elementsX-ray microlithographyDirect write e-beam array using nanotube electron field emitters Ion implantationPlasma HDTV display panelSpace PropulsionHall thrustersRF drive (VASIMR Project)Waste RemediationPlasma torchWaste glassificationCryopellet ablationIsotope separationMicrowave spallation of contaminated surfaces

Plasma-assisted catalystHigh Sensitivity Continuous Emission

Monitor (CEM) for metals in stackgas

Material ProcessingLaser peeningIon beam surface modificationMicrowave sinteringEnhanced Plasma Chemical VaporDeposition (EPCVD)Optical material manufacturingRapid crystal growthLaser machiningPulsed Power & Power ConversionIGBT power conversion units for

trains, buses, and earth moversMicrowave Impulse Radar (MIR)Power generation, transmission, storage, conditioning, surge

limiting, & motors

SuperconductivityNuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)Superconducting cyclotrons for isotope production and neutron

radiographySuperconducting synchrotrons forX-ray lithographyMagnetic separation of materials (e.g.,

clay)Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)Medical/HealthLaser cavity drillingMedical isotope separation (laser/rf)Tissue weldingX-ray catheterContinuous glucose monitorOpto-acoustic laser system for blood clot emulsificationDental imagingGrain sterilization & milk pasteurizationMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

ScienceLaboratory AstrophysicsSimulation of Supernova InstabilitiesSimulation of radiatively cooled jetsDense matter (metallic hydrogen)Planetary science of giant planets and brown dwarf starsDiagnosticsX-ray spectrometerLaser anemometerHigh-dynamic-range high-speed

streak camerasCode DevelopmentTurbulenceAstrophysicsNonlinear DynamicsChaos Theory

Fusion Technology Spin-offs (continued)