New reactor, part I

This will be a new, small research reactor for my master's student. It is, in fact, an ISO K reducing crosspiece, and will serve as a vacuum chamber.

You can still see the crude electrodes my collegue Ben (in action on the right) installed when he used it to demonstrate plasma during his public defense.
Unfortunately I can't go the same route, because this setup, while fine for demonstrating the magnificent fourth state of matter to the awed public (heh), doesn't lend itself to research. It is rife with parasitic plasmas which I am supposed to study - I try to avoid them whenever I can.

So I am designing a new little plasma-box to go inside the chamber - which is more fun than it sounds.


I'll keep blogging about the design process as it happens (live!physics!) - see some preliminary sketches below.