Plasma glass ring

As part of an exhibit for the German Museum in Nuremberg, a ring of borosilicate glass with a diameter of 310 mm was produced at ZEA-1 and filled with the noble gas argon.

Two become one

Two half-shells were formed from tubes and then joined together to form a ring. For this purpose, various holding devices were attached to the blanks and removed after completion. The resulting ring was then evacuated and filled with a small amount of argon.

Energized and bent

If the noble gas argon filled in the ring is energized with a high-frequency magnetic field, a "plasma" is created that begins to glow. The plasma can be deformed by magnets that are moved on the outside of the ring. This experiment illustrates how the hot plasma in the fusion chamber of a fusion reactor can be shaped and held in position with the help of strong magnetic fields.