Talk:Plasma window

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[edit] Questions

I don't think the explanation in terms of viscosity is correct. I would also like to know what prevents the plasma from streaming along the magnetic field and why the plasma does not ionize the air that hits it. What are typical ion and electron temperatures? How is the plasma maintained? ... Any experts out there? --Art Carlson 10:14, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Also, what's wrong with a thick piece of glass or plastic? And when was this first developed, and by whom? —Simetrical (talk • contribs) 06:20, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Thick pieces of glass or plastic tend to absorb things (electrons, radiation, stuff inside a nuclear accelerator) that the plasma window doesn't.

I found 1 source that mentions this technology... I'm no physicist so I can't speak on its validity either, but this technology has me intrigued and i'd really like to learn if it actually exists.
--Diploid 01:09, 7 March 2006 (UTC)


I have greatly expanded upon this article and removed the expert tag since I hope i clarified a few things, also corrected some errors and generaly cleaned it up a bit. I recently spoke to Ady Hershcovitch via e-mail which is a reference i cant really list at the end of the article, so im posting the relavent parts of the e-mail here:

How hot does the plasma have to be before it can keep atmosphere and vacuum separate? or is this dependant on the gas used?

Normally, I've operated plasma windows at about 15,000 K in the center of the plasma window (it's cooler at the edge), but the hotter the better.

Is there any limit to the size of a plasma window?

In principle there is no limit, but for larger than a few of inches, the power requirements make it impractical for many applications. Power consumption is about 20 kW/inch (of diameter of round windows).

Is matter able to pass through the plasma window? and if so, would it be incinerated by the plasma's heat?

Solid matter will sustain damage! Unless it's moving very fast it will sustain extreme damage.

if plasma becomes more viscous as its heat increases, is it feasible that at extremely high temperatures, a plasma window could be used like a force field to deflect projectiles?

I do not think it would deflect projectiles. A more likely scenario is that projectile gets wedged in and burns.

--Mloren 14 March 06

Very interesting, thank you for your expertise. One question, can you activate it and deactivate the plasma window at will? Kind of like a, "Shields up! Shields down!" type of deal. 64.236.245.243 19:12, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
Of course you can - just stop giving the system energy and it will cool down--80.221.4.198 19:59, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
Two things to note - if you simply turned off the power, note that the vacuum would also be lost - using it as a shield in sci-fi terms wouldn't work, as the plasma (or gas, once the power is off) would be diffused into space. Second of all, even your quotation of the emails doesn't provide proof for everything - is it true that plasma becomes more viscous (in the same way adding sugar to water makes it thicker, until it becomes syrup)? If true, it is likely that this needs to be added to the main Plasma (physics) article. There is a severe lack of facts about the mechanical properties of Plasma, which may be significant. Xander T. 12:27, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Definition of Plasma

The article states that plasma is a gas that has had all of its atoms ionized--this isn't exactly true. Plasmas exists as a spectrum, from a low ionization percentage to high. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.249.218 (talk) 23:01, 5 November 2007 (UTC)