PSL Experiments

Experiments & Facilities

PSL activities focus on four experimental devices - three dusty plasma devices and a 1.8 m long plasma column, ALEXIS. A brief description of this hardware and some of the lab's diagnostic tools is given below. Click on the links in the menu frame to find out more detailed information about each of these research projects.

Dusty plasmas

The laboratory is located in the Leach Science Center - Rooms 208, 209, & 215

PSL Experiments:

Dusty Plasma Experiments: Three main devices - DPX, 3DPX, Ring
- Used to perform studies of dusty plasmas
- Charged microparticles (1 to 50 microns in diameter) are suspended in argon dc glow discharge plasmas
- Experiments focus on using two- and three-dimensional measurements of particle transport to extract the properties of linear and non-linear waves, the plasma - dust cloud interface, and thermal properties of dusty plasmas.
- The PSL makes use of Two Dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry (2D-PIV) and Three Dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry (stereo-PIV) techniques to make measurements of particle dynamics.
- Support for this project has been provided by the National Science Foundation and NASA
ALEXIS - Auburn Linear Experiment for Instability Studies
- Used for the plasma rotation and velocity shear driven instabilities experiments.
- A 180 cm long, 10 cm diameter chamber - uses filament to generate a magnetized plasma column.
- Support for this project is provided by the US Department of Energy -Office of Fusion Energy Sciences.

PSL Diagnostics:

The lab uses the usual complement of plasma diagnostic tools plus a few other specialized diagnostics. Specific details are given in the experimental links.

Diagnostic	Measurement	Device
Langmuir probes	Single & double probes for characterizing ion density, electron temperature, and plasma potential	ALL
Emissive probes	Plasma potential measurements	ALEXIS
Laser light scattering (He-Ne lasers)	Continuous dusty plasma measurements	DPX, 3DPX
Emission spectroscopy	Non-invasive optical measurements to detect fluctuations in the ion density	ALEXIS
Particle image velocimetry (PIV)	2-D PIV - velocity measurements in dusty plasmas 3-D (stereo) PIV - measures all three velocity vector directions	DPX, Ring 3DPX

Fusion collaboration:

In addition to experiments on our own experiments, the PSL has recently begun a collaboration with the Auburn Fusion Laboratory. The goal of these new studies will be to examine the role of sheared plasma flows - similar to those studies on the ALEXIS device.

In these studies, plasma edge biasing techniques will be used to modify the radial electric field structure near the last closed magnetic flux surface on the Compact Toroidal Hybrid (CTH) device - a 5-field period stellarator device. Initial work has begun to develop probe diagnostics for CTH with upcoming studies focusing on the development of the biasing electrodes.