0 or 3 credits
Spring 2026 Laboratory Lecture Upper Division
The laboratory course will include lab prep lectures, practical classes and mini-projects. Lab prep lectures will briefly cover topics of the basic plasma physics and diagnostics relevant to the subsequent practical classes. In addition, details of the corresponding lab procedure, instructions and lab report assignment will be discussed. Practical classes will involve students in practical creation and operation of various plasma sources and plasma diagnostics. Specifically, students will operate DC high voltage breakdown facility, electrostatic accelerator (ion thruster), cross-field accelerator (Hall thruster), Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet facility, and will conduct measurements of plasma parameters using Langmuir probes, microwave interferometer and optical spectrometer.
Learning Outcomes1Operate laboratory electronic equipment and conduct basic electrical measurements.
2Demonstrate fundamental understanding of Paschen breakdown law, and measure breakdown parameters.
3Demonstrate fundamental understanding of Child-Langmuir law and calculate space-charge limited current density.
4Operate electrostatic accelerator at different acceleration voltages, and conduct measurements of total ion current carried by the plasma jet using plane Langmuir probe.
5Demonstrate fundamental understanding of operation of single electrostatic Langmuir probes, conduct measurements of V-I curves, and calculate plasma parameters based on the measurements.
6Operate cold atmospheric-pressure plasma jet and conduct spectroscopic measurements of the jet emission using spectrometer.
7Computationally simulate the emission spectra of the second positive system of nitrogen molecule, and determine vibrational and rotational gas temperatures based on the measured and simulated spectra.
8Operate Hall-effect accelerator, and measure basic operational parameters.
9Operate pendulum thrust stand and conduct thrust measurements.
10Demonstrate fundamental understanding of operation principle of microwave interferometry and construct the interferometer from basic microwave components.
11Conduct interferometry measurements of phase shift in plasma column and determine plasma density.
12Conduct search of the journal papers on a given topic, and compare the reported results with that measured in the lab.
Prerequisites
made by Purdue students.