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Home : Our Work : Areas of Research : Plasma Physics

    Plasma Physics
Phone: (202) 767-5635

 

Overview

The Plasma Physics Division conducts broad theoretical and experimental programs of basic and applied research in plasma physics, laboratory discharge, and space plasmas, intense electron and ion beams and photon sources, atomic physics, pulsed power sources, laser physics, advanced spectral diagnostics, and nonlinear systems. 

The effort of the Division is concentrated on a few closely coordinated theoretical and experimental programs. Considerable emphasis is placed on large-scale numerical simulations related to plasma dynamics; ionospheric, magnetospheric, and atmospheric dynamics; nuclear weapons effects; inertial confinement fusion; atomic physics; plasma processing; nonlinear dynamics and chaos; free electron lasers and other advanced radiation sources; advanced accelerator concepts; and atmospheric laser propagation.

Core Capabilities 

  • Radiation Hydrodynamics - The principal emphasis is in the development and application of theoretical models and state-of-the-art numerical simulations combining magnetohydrodynamics, high energy density physics, atomic and radiation physics, and spectroscopy.
  • Laser Plasma - Primary areas of research include physics underpinnings of laser fusion, high-energy-gain laser-inertial- fusion target designs, experiments and simulations of laser-matter interactions at high intensity, advancing the science and technologies of high-energy krypton fluoride and argon fluoride lasers, advancing the technologies of durable high-repetition-rate pulse power and electron-beam diodes for laser pumping and other applications, laser fusion as a power source.
  • Space and Laboratory Plasmas - Space research includes theoretical, numerical, and laboratory and space experimental investigations of the dynamic behavior of the near-Earth space plasmas and radiation belts, and the modification of space plasmas for strategic effects on HF communications, satellite navigation, over-the-horizon radar, and UHF satellite communications.  Applications-oriented plasma research is performed in the production, characterization, and use of low-temperature plasmas and related technology for applications to advance capabilities across the Navy and DOD.  Pulsed-power investigations include electromagnetic launch science and technology and research on directed energy systems for the U.S. Navy.
  • Pulsed Power Physics - Experimental and theoretical research is performed to advance pulsed power driven accelerator technology in areas relevant to defense applications. Research concerns the production, transport, characterization, and modeling of pulsed plasmas and intense high-power, charged particle beams using terawatt-class hundred-kilojoule pulsed power systems that employ capacitive or inductive energy storage and advanced switching. 
  • Directed Energy Physics - Research encompasses the integration of theoretical/computational and experimental research relevant to DOD, ONR, DARPA, and DoE in the areas of ultra-high field laser physics, atmospheric propagation of intense lasers, advanced radiation and accelerator physics, laser-generated plasma-microwave interactions, and dynamics of nonlinear systems. 

Facilities Fact Sheets

  • Electra Experimental Lab Facility - Electron beam pumped laser.  [ Download PDF]
  • NIKE KrF Laser Target Facility.  [Download PDF]
  • Space Plasma Simulation Chamber.  [Download PDF]

Plasma Physics News

NEWS | June 4, 2025

Global Team Tracks Unusual Objects in Milky Way Galaxy

By Connie Braesch, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Corporate Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C.  –   Researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) were part of a global effort to track newly discovered unusual bursts of radio emission from an object within the Milky Way galaxy. Information from telescopes in Australia, India, South Africa, and the United States were all used to help identify the object.
 
In a paper published to the journal Nature on May 28, the international team announced the discovery of the new object, known as ASKAP J1832-091. This new object emits pulses of radio waves and X-rays lasting two minutes and recurring every 44 minutes. Called a long-period transient, or LPT, the object is located about 15,000 light-years from Earth.
  
LPTs that emit radio waves occurring minutes or hours apart are a relatively recent discovery, but this is the first time an LPT has been detected in X-rays.
 
“The discovery of energetic X-rays from this new LPT is another important puzzle piece in astronomers’ quest to understand these mysterious objects,” said Tracy Clarke, Ph.D., in NRL’s Remote Sensing Division.  
 
ASKAP J1832-0911 was first discovered by astronomers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Australia using the ASKAP radio telescope, which is owned and operated by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. They correlated the radio signals with X-ray pulses detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was coincidentally observing the same part of the sky.
 
Clarke along with Wendy Peters, Ph.D., and Emil Polisensky, Ph.D., searched archival data from NRL’s VLA Low-band Ionosphere and Transient Experiment (VLITE) and identified additional radio signals from the same object.
 
“The VLITE data were recorded just one day after the first-ever LPT X-ray detection was made,” Clarke said. “NRL researchers applied advanced processing algorithms to the VLITE data and detected two intense consecutive bursts of radio emission from ASKAP J1832-0911.”
 
NRL’s findings from VLITE data combined with ASKAP telescope detections that were made eight days before the X-ray detection confirm that ASKAP J1832-0911 remained in an exceptionally bright radio emitting state during the X-ray burst.
 
Other sources also helped corroborate the findings including South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope and India’s Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT).
 
The lead author of the paper Ziteng (Andy) Wang, Ph.D., from the Curtin University node of ICRAR, said it was “like finding a needle in a haystack.”
 
Second author, Professor Nanda Rea from the Institute of Space Science (ICE-CSIC) and Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) in Spain, called the effort truly remarkable.

“This study showcases an incredible teamwork effort, with contributions from researchers across the globe with different and complementary expertise,” Rea said.
 
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL, located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 3,000 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.
 
For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or nrlpao@nrl.navy.mil.
 
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