My summer research!

Discuss life, the universe, and everything with other members of this site. Get to know your fellow polywell enthusiasts.

Moderators: tonybarry, MSimon

Post Reply
Solo
Posts: 261
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:12 pm
Location: Wisconsin

My summer research!

Post by Solo »

Well, it's not fusion-related, but it is plasma physics. I'm working with Dr. Christoph Niemann of UCLA and LLNL/NIF. They've got me apprenticed to a graduate student, making teensy little B-dot probes for a laser-produced plasma experiment. Dr. Niemann is interested in laser-plasma interactions and collisionless shockwaves and Alfven waves, mostly space-related stuff although he does work with the NIF. I'm finding out that there are a lot of similarities between this business and building a house (my occupation for the past few summers).

BTW, this is a paid internship through the NSF (called REU, Research Experience for Undergraduates), which is a very nice arrangement! Other undergraduates who read this, you really ought to apply for some of these programs!

Tom Ligon
Posts: 1871
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 1:23 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Contact:

Post by Tom Ligon »

Kewl! I never was terribly handy at making B-dot probes, and Polywell experiments can use them.

rcain
Posts: 992
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:43 pm
Contact:

Post by rcain »

....'bitsy ones you say. lots of them. are they digital? why not hall effect?
does indeed sound kool :)

MSimon
Posts: 14334
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:37 pm
Location: Rockford, Illinois
Contact:

Post by MSimon »

B-dot probes:

http://aerospace.engin.umich.edu/spacel ... b-dot.html

Why not Hall effect? Frequency response, saturation, and linearity.
Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.

Roger
Posts: 788
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:03 am
Location: Metro NY

Post by Roger »

Congrats Solo, thats very cool.
I like the p-B11 resonance peak at 50 KV acceleration. In2 years we'll know.

Solo
Posts: 261
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:12 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Post by Solo »

Thanks all!

Frequency response is the main deal, we're looking into the tens of MHz. Yeah, bitsy, as in, the core I wind the wire around is a 1mm cylinder of plastic with channels cut in it to make 3 axes (axises?) The wire is 40gauge magnet wire. It's very easy to break, about the diameter of a hair. Very finicky, I'm making alot of mistakes.

rcain
Posts: 992
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:43 pm
Contact:

Post by rcain »

MSimon wrote:B-dot probes:

http://aerospace.engin.umich.edu/spacel ... b-dot.html

Why not Hall effect? Frequency response, saturation, and linearity.
funny you should say that msimon, i was just looking at that (uni mich) - nice selection of probes and diagnostics (n'shit), theyve got - http://aerospace.engin.umich.edu/spacel ... stics.html

fancy being let loose in there a while? :)

well, linearity, who needs it anyway. frequency response surprises me, thought smaller would be faster. saturation agreed. range, i could understand.

ps. helluva paper here - http://aerospace.engin.umich.edu/spacel ... 8-4674.pdf ... gads

MSimon
Posts: 14334
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:37 pm
Location: Rockford, Illinois
Contact:

Post by MSimon »

rcain wrote:
MSimon wrote:B-dot probes:

http://aerospace.engin.umich.edu/spacel ... b-dot.html

Why not Hall effect? Frequency response, saturation, and linearity.
funny you should say that msimon, i was just looking at that (uni mich) - nice selection of probes and diagnostics (n'shit), theyve got - http://aerospace.engin.umich.edu/spacel ... stics.html

fancy being let loose in there a while? :)

well, linearity, who needs it anyway. frequency response surprises me, thought smaller would be faster. saturation agreed. range, i could understand.
Thanks for the diagnostic link. Added to the sidebar at IECFT.
Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.

rcain
Posts: 992
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:43 pm
Contact:

Post by rcain »

Solo wrote:Thanks all!

Frequency response is the main deal, we're looking into the tens of MHz. Yeah, bitsy, as in, the core I wind the wire around is a 1mm cylinder of plastic with channels cut in it to make 3 axes (axises?) The wire is 40gauge magnet wire. It's very easy to break, about the diameter of a hair. Very finicky, I'm making alot of mistakes.
..you'll be wanting a nanobot for that then?

Post Reply