ODU-LED TEAM WINS NSF GRANT FOR LASER PLASMA RESEARCH PROJECT

A team of researchers led by Hani Elsayed-Ali, Eminent Scholar and professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of Old Dominion's Applied Research Center (ARC), has won a highly competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for a laser plasma research project.

The $475,000 grant, "Spark-Assisted Laser Multicharged Ion Source," builds on the work he and former doctoral student Ayed Nassef did at ARC several years ago.

Elsayed-Ali and Nassef's research demonstrated that coupling of the spark discharge with the laser plasma results in multicharged ion production, even though very low energy laser pulses are used. In layman's terms, the spark discharge acts as a well-synchronized, relatively inexpensive amplification stage for plasma density and temperature. Nassef is now a faculty member at Cairo University.

The NSF funding will allow ARC to recruit students to develop a device to produce multicharged ions. In the senior design project, the students will design and construct a laser-triggered spark discharge, which will significantly amplify the energy deposited in laser-produced plasma.

This new technology is expected to enhance the production of highly charged ions, and reduce equipment cost and size compared to currently available ion sources. Highly charged ions carry substantial potential energy, which could be considerably more than the ion kinetic energy. The multicharged ion interaction involves the release of this potential energy, in addition to its kinetic energy.

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