Seminars 2025-2026

Abstract: It is well-recognized that non-thermal (non-equilibrium) plasmas have played a critical, if unsung, role in every day technologies, and really, our modern way of life. The microchips and processors that make up our phones, computers, and the entire information technology ecosystem all utilized plasma processing at some point in the manufacturing chain. While microfabrication technologies such as etching and sputtering are well developed and commercially deployed, the next evolution of plasma processing will expand the types and kinds of goods beyond electronics to include fertilizers, high-value chemicals, metals, and more, helping create a more energy resilient and security robust manufacturing sector. This talk will overview two areas that are primed for great impact based on processing at a plasma-liquid interface. The first is bulk-phase chemical and metal production using plasma electrolysis, where a plasma in contact with a solution drives useful solution-phase chemistry without the need for catalysts. The second is additive manufacturing, where a plasma in contact with aerosols containing functional inks accelerates and improves the printing process of functional devices. The talk will overview both fundamental work on the plasma-liquid interface and discuss specific application demonstrations that highlight recent advances, stressing the need for continued research and development to move the field toward practical technologies.

About the Speaker: David B. Go is the Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Vice President & Associate Provost for Academic Strategy at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to his current role, he was the Chair of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Professor Go has published widely in the areas of plasma science and engineering, heat transfer and fluid dynamics, and chemical analysis and holds ten patents or patent applications, leading to two licensed technologies. Professor Go has been recognized with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Award, the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the Electrochemistry Society Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship, the Electrostatics Society of America Rising Star and Distinguished Service Awards, and the IEEE Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society Early Achievement Award. He has also been recognized as a Viskanta Fellow and received the Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award from Purdue University. Professor Go is an ASME Fellow, Senior Member of IEEE, and former President of the Electrostatics Society of America. At U. Notre Dame, he has received the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and was a Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellow. Prior to joining Notre Dame in 2008, Professor Go received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, M.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University.

Abstract: In 1962, the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test marked the first occasion on which mankind ever created an entirely new region of space — a long-lasting radiation belt that significantly changed the character of geospace for months if not years. On the flip side, long-term persistent VLF transmission has been identified as a likely source of electron losses and may be entirely responsible for the existence of a depleted radiation belt slot region. This highlights the dual nature of humanity’s presence in space — creator and destroyer, influencer and observer. As we become progressively more active in space, particularly through frequent space launches and the mass population of low earth orbit, the character of the natural environment is itself starting to change in response to our activity. The presence and composition of debris in LEO is a high-profile example, but far from the only one. Electromagnetics, chemistry, and plasma physics throughout the domain of human activity are being changed, sometimes in surprising ways. In this talk, I will take a holistic look at the growing impact of human activity on the space environment and potential future implications for both science and society.

About the Speaker: Jesse Woodroffe leads the Space Sciences and Applications Group (ISR-1) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) where he has overseen a portfolio work related to space-based plasma and charged particle sensing since joining LANL in 2023. From 2021-2023, he was a program scientist at NASA Headquarters where he oversaw the research component of the NASA space weather research program. Other prior work includes serving a consultant on the space environment for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2019-2021), and as a researcher at LANL investigating space weather impacts to the power grid. Jesse received his BA in physics from Augsburg College in 2003 and his PhD in physics from the University of Minnesota in 2010.

Abstract: Coming soon.

About the Speaker: Dr. Jean Paul Allain is the Associate Director of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) in the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC). With an annual budget of approximately $800M, Dr. Allain leads the FES with multiple areas including enabling and foundational burning plasma science including advanced tokamaks, theoretical and simulations, and long-pulse fusion plasmas. In addition, FES supports research in fusion materials and nuclear science, discovery plasma science and plasma technology, high-energy density plasmas and inertial fusion energy. FES also supports the US participation in ITER and public-private partnerships. Prior to joining FES in July 2023, Dr. Allain was Professor and Head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. He was associate head in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and associate professor at Purdue University. Dr. Allain led the Radiation Surface Science and Engineering Laboratory (RSSEL) conducting research in plasma-material interactions and authored over 350 peer-reviewed and proceedings papers in experimental and computational modeling work in particle and plasma-surface interactions with high-temperature materials in nuclear fusion, plasma medicine and nanomaterials. Dr Allain was also Faculty Entrepreneurial Fellow at UIUC with over 10 patents in advanced materials, founder of Editekk Inc, Energy Driven Technologies LLC, and a Fulbright fellowship in tech innovation.

Abstract: The first ion engines were launched into orbit in the 1960s but it was not until the 1990s that their commercial use began in the U.S., followed by the first NASA flight on Deep Space 1 in 1998. Hall thrusters (HTs) followed a similarly long trajectory from the lab to deep-space flight. Since the 1970s thousands of HTs have flown in near-Earth orbit, yet it was not until NASA’s Psyche mission in 2023 that HTs were used as primary propulsion beyond lunar orbit. Two challenges contributed to this protracted path. First, HTs are low-thrust, high-exhaust-speed devices that achieve large ΔVs but must operate for years in space. Flight qualification in vacuum facilities can be prohibitively costly and time-consuming. Challenges in qualifying a technology by test alone are not unique to electric propulsion (EP). Certification of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile now relies on physics-based modeling and simulations (M&S) requiring large investments. The second challenge is that investment in M&S for EP has been limited. Their inherently complex physics prohibited the advancement of first-principles M&S tools to a level that could make major impact on development. Instead, technology advancement depended largely on empirical scaling and laboratory testing. A focused effort on physics-based M&S began in the 2000’s in the EP Group of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). In this presentation I will highlight achievements made at JPL in the M&S of plasmas in EP, and discuss their impact on development, maturation and flight qualification of EP for NASA deep-space missions.

About the Speaker: Dr. Ioannis (Yiangos) G. Mikellides is a Senior Research Scientist and Principal Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from The Ohio State University. In over three decades his theoretical investigations of applied plasma physics, supported by extensive numerical simulation, have spanned applications as diverse as high-pressure discharge chambers and hypersonic nozzles, ablative thrusters, magnetic nozzles in fusion propulsion, MHD shocks, rarefied EP plumes and astrophysical plasmas. He has developed OrCa2D and Hall2De, two novel scientific plasma codes that have been supporting the qualification of hollow cathodes and HTs for NASA’s EP missions since he joined JPL in 2003. Hall2De has also been licensed to various institutions of government, academia and the private sector nationwide. His theoretical work has led to notable advances in our understanding of EP plasmas such as the prediction of ion acoustic turbulence in cathode discharges and the development of the first principles of magnetic shielding in HTs. He has published more than 60 refereed articles in aerospace engineering, applied physics, planetary/space sciences and astrophysics journals, and co-authored the 2023 book “Fundamentals of Electric Propulsion”. He is a Fellow of the AIAA and the recipient of multiple recognitions including the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal and the JPL Lew Allen and Edward Stone Awards.

Abstract: So what do fusion technology, physical vapor deposition and EUV lithography have in common? The answer is, “plasma-material interactions” (PMI) and in particular, sputtering. The key to a fusion energy device delivering energy is getting out the heat without destroying the walls. Afterall you are putting the sun in a metal can and should expect a similar heat flux! How that plasma interacts with the surfaces is paramount. We developed a way to use flowing molten lithium as the plasma facing component. To create thin films for microelectronics, magnetron sputtering is the most common form of physical vapor deposition. We developed a new system for magnetron sputtering which reverses the potential on the target allowing detailed control of the ion energy reaching the material to be coated. Finally, in EUV lithography the primary factor limiting the power is “tin management”. To make 13.5 nm EUV light, 30-μm-diameter molten Sn droplets are hit by a laser at up to 80,000 times per second. The Sn vaporizes and becomes a dense warm plasma which emits EUV light. The tin ends up everywhere including on the Bragg-reflector mirrors. Removing the tin without damaging the mirrors is a delicate balance of PMI. We developed surface-wave-plasma sources which produce hydrogen radicals and a locally higher ion density which turns the Sn to SnH4 which is pumped away. This talk will hit the highlights in each of these areas and show how they are all being used in industry.

About the Speaker: David Neil Ruzic is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a Fellow in four societies and has been awarded the Gaede-Langmuir award from AVS (2020) and the Fusion Technology Prize from IEEE (2020), the University of Michigan Plasma Prize (2024) and the International Award in Technology from IVSTA (2025). Even though “retired” his current group consists of 1 postdoc, 16 graduate and 25 undergraduate research assistants. He founded and is the Director of the Center for Plasma-Material Interactions and the Illinois Plasma Institute. His research covers the fusion technology, plasma deposition, plasma etching, EUV lithography and atmospheric-pressure plasma processing.