The new FFS-LPP collaboration with a Latin American plasma focus group has produced its first data. The data is being used for calibration of the five scintillators that measure neutron flux, x-ray flux and x-ray temperature. Such calibration must be done carefully, because temperature measurements are based on the ratios of the signals from the scintillators when they are placed behind metal filters of different thicknesses. This data ends a long (four-year!) drought of experimental data for our project.

Notes on the Symposium from Eric Lerner:

• Sentiment at the Symposium
• Our Presentation
• TriAlpha Energy at the Symposium

A possible theoretical collaboration is developing with a Ukrainian researcher, Anton Tykhyy, who has volunteered to help.

FFS Executive Director Eric J. Lerner is currently seeking NASA funding for focus fusion research.

The NIST Advanced Technology Program announced its grant awards for 2004. Focus fusion passed the first gate which was based on technical merit. Unfortunately, we did not receive an award at the second gate which was based on commercialization potential. The feedback from the program did not indicate that they felt there was no commercialization potential, just that we had not made a strong enough case in our grant proposal.

LPP received the first results from the small DPF we are collaborating with at Ferrara, Italy.  So far, only the main Rogowski coil which measures current and dI/dt and the neutron counters are working.  Noise problems are still being eliminated on the downstream Rogowski coils that measure the ion beams.

Research work on Focus Fusion included efforts to develop an Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grant application with GMU.  The application focused on the DPF as a source of X-rays.  The collaboration with GMU was necessary as university partners are an asset in applying for this type of grant.

Note: Collaboration with the University of Ferrara has not progressed as they are still awaiting funding from the European Union. This endeavor is on hold.

Lerner presented new theoretical results at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society in April 2003 (Philadelphia) and at the Fifth Symposium on Current Trends in International Fusion Research in March, 2003 (Washington, D.C.) showing that giga-gauss magnetic fields produced by the plasma focus will decrease the cooling of the plasma by x-rays, making net energy easier to achieve.

May 2003:  Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, National Autonomous University of Mexico Prepare New Focus Experiments.