A small plasma focus (3.3 kJ) is designed from the viewpoint of simplicity, reliability, and cost effectiveness to act as a source of pulsed high-density plasmas. The simplicity of the device and associated diagnostics coupled with its rich variety of plasma phenomena makes this device ideal for the teaching of plasma nuclear fusion particularly for developing countries where such facilities are at present rarely available. Six sets of the device have been constructed and tested in various gases with better than 95% reliability and reproducibility in various plasma phenomena including neutron production of 0.5–1.0×108 per discharge when operated in 3-Torr deuterium. The design principles, procedures, and parameters are discussed and test results shown.

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Carbon nanomaterials exhibit novel characteristics including enhanced thermal, electrical, mechanical, and biological properties. Nanodiamonds; first discovered in meteorites are found to be biocompatible, non-toxic and have distinct optical properties. Here we show that nanodiamonds with the size of <5 nm are formed directly from ethanol via 1025 nm femtosecond laser irradiation. The absorption of laser energy by ethanol increased non-linearly above 100 μJ accompanied by a white light continuum arises from fs laser filamentation. At laser energy higher than 300 μJ, emission spectra of C, O and H in the plasma were detected, indicating the dissociation of C2H5OH. Nucleation of the carbon species in the confined plasma within the laser filaments leads to the formation of nanodiamonds. The energy dependence and the roles of the nonlinear phenomenon to the formation of homogeneous nanodiamonds are discussed. This work brings new possibility for bottom-up nanomaterials synthesis based on nano and ultrafast laser physics.

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