Technion researchers have discovered "hidden" electric fields in plasma channels

To discover far-reaching consequences for devices built on an electrical discharge that occurs in a period of nanoseconds

The Technion researchers discovered "hidden" electric fields in plasma channels and thereby contradicted the opinion that has been prevalent until now, according to which there are no such fields in electric discharges with durations of nanoseconds. This is what the prestigious scientific journal "Physical Review Letters" reveals.

The discovery by Technion researchers from the Faculty of Physics has far-reaching consequences for devices that are built on an electrical discharge that occurs in a period of nanoseconds. "99.9% of the universe around us consists of plasma," explains Dr. Shorik Yatom who conducted the research under the direction of Professor Yaakov Kersik from the Faculty of Physics. "There is very little plasma on Earth and we produce it in laboratories. It is useful when we try to produce energy, it is used in many devices such as generators and microwave compressors, for sterilization purposes, in screens, in engines for small satellites and recently they began to use it for healing wounds. When it comes to time periods of nanoseconds, the prevailing opinion so far has been that there is no great resistance, whereas we at the Technion have discovered powerful electric fields which translate into considerable resistance, resulting in a loss of energy."

The Technion researchers found in the plasma the presence of electric fields of up to tens of kilovolts/cm. In order to measure the electric field without changing the properties of the measured plasma, researchers often use optical methods. In the experiment described, the Technion researchers used two coherent laser beams, the scattering of which creates two more coherent beams, in an effect called "Raman scattering". Measuring the ratio between the two new rays makes it possible to measure the electric field with a very high temporal resolution. The electric fields create a resistance which leads to a significant energy loss, which so far has not been considered significant.