Dept. Physics, POSTECH

Research
Plasma Physics/Accelerator Physics

Plasma Physics/Accelerator Physics

Tokamak, the generator of high-temperature fusion plasma (Left), and the fluid instability phenomenon occurred at the plasma surface in KSTAR tokamak in Korea (Right)
High density plasma generated in supercritical argon fluid
High-density room temperature plasma generation using microwave in atmospheric pressure
Heated electron in high-pressure microwave plasma sheath (Left), and the generation of high energy electron (Right)
KSTAR Tokamak (Left) and high-resolution millimeter wave imaging camera system (Right)

Plasma physics is the study of strong electromagnetic interactions among charged particles and study of phenomena evoked from them, such as energy transfer, motion of particles, and collective fluid, and wave behavior. Including innumerable stars in the night sky, most part of the visible universe is in the plasma state. Also, together with the Sun, the interior of Jupiter, and the discharge of Venus in our solar system, ionosphere, aurora, and lightning which are the natural phenomena in the Earth are in the plasma state. Even in semiconductor industry which forms the basic foundations of modern civilization, plasma processing is the core technique, and plasma bulbs are still lightening plenty of roads and buildings. Plasma physics has been used in various military technology, including nuclear weapons, missiles, satellites, and biochemical decontaminations, and has been studied as a core subject for the development of high-temperature nuclear fusion energy. Recently, the studies in bio-related technologies using radicals generated plentifully in plasma state are also actively proceeded.
In this vast field of the plasma physics, we are conducting following research.

Research Areas

High Energy Density Plasma (Gun su Yun)

If we confine plasma well by strong magnetic trap, we can heat them up to tens of millions of degrees where fusion reactions occur. To sustain fusion reaction, we need to maintain the trapped state by preventing or controlling the fluid instabilities and the turbulences occurred in plasma. In Plasma Physics Project at POSTECH(P4) laboratory, we are developing high-performance measurement systems and data analyzing tools to identify the spatiotemporal properties of fluid instabilities and turbulences experimentally. Furthermore, we are also conducting theoretical studies on nonlinear fluid phenomena in plasma flow.

The existence of high density plasma is also expected in the center of planets which have high pressures. In this state, since the potential energy does not small compared to kinetic energy of charged particles, there are huge density fluctuations. In our laboratory, we are studying on ionization procedure in gases or fluids at high-pressure, and energy transfers and particle motions accompanying with density fluctuation such as cluster formations and so forth. In addition, we are running parallel work with development of plasma processing related to steel and semiconductor industries using high-pressure plasma.

Professors

- Yun, Gunsu

Research Professors

Researcher