Plasma physics at UC Irvine is an important focus of the Physics and Astronomy Department in the training of students and in the creation of new physics knowledge. The plasma physics lab is a pretty exciting place to be. New and influential physics is pursued with sophisticated technology (often invented at UCI), the learning process is invigorating for all levels of study, and lab members find their work beneficial to their future physics careers.
Ionized matter gives us the plasma state. Since most of the extraterrestrial universe is plasma (stars, interstellar and interplanetary space, the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere, etc), there is ample motivation for physicists to study this complex state of matter. Fortunately, a wide range of plasmas can be created and studied closely in laboratories at UCI. Undergraduates, graduate students, research physicists, and faculty work in the plasma labs with the common goal of discovering and understanding new knowledge, part of the heart of the physics research university environment.
Just as turbulence is an issue of interest in the present social structure of the world, so too is turbulence riveting for plasma physicists. Turbulent plasmas are the norm, yet to diagnose turbulence has proved difficult. In the last few years electronics advances have made data acquisition and processing possible on scales not previously achievable. Experimentalists now can study plasmas in the usually found turbulent forms.
Turbulence in plasmas encompasses ions, electrons, and electromagnetic waves. We study all three areas since they are inextricably linked. Ion and electron motion in plasmas creates turbulent waves. Turbulent waves affect the transport of these charged particles. By diagnosis with probes, wave propagation properties and turbulence characteristics of nonlinear wave and particle interactions can be measured.
There are exciting, continually evolving methods of measuring the motion of ions in plasmas. Via laser induced fluorescence (LIF), developed at UCI for plasma diagnosis, diffusion and convection of ions in real and velocity space can be measured. LIF relies upon laser excitation of doppler shifted atomic transitions. The elusive multi-dimensional ion velocity distribution functions, rarely Maxwellian, can be determined using our invention of optical tomography. To make these ion transport measurements we have worked over the years with laser companies to develop new lasers for commercial use. Presently we are working with a leading diode laser manufacturer to make solid state lasers at wavelengths and powers not yet available but which will prove valuable to physicists. We are excited about the diode lasers we have tested recently in our plasma experiments. The invention of new tools often leads to new physics. Our laboratory thrives on the invention of new tools motivated by physics questions.
The plasma physics laboratory is very active in the educational endeavor at UCI. There are usually undergraduates and graduate students engaged in experimental plasma physics research. Addressing fundamental physics questions while mastering a broad array of experimental skills in electronics, vacuum, lasers, and computers provides excellent career training. Undergraduate senior thesis students from the lab regularly go on to prestigious graduate schools for their doctorates, such as Auburn, the University of Chicago, Georgia Institute of Technology, Princeton, UCI, UCLA, and UC San Diego. Graduate students seeking Ph.D.s in experimental plasma physics find the lab to be an ideal experience. In fact, over the sixteen years I have led this plasma lab all the doctorates from my lab have had jobs waiting for them on completion of their degrees and all continue to work using the physics they learned in the lab.