Welcome to my home page. I've been at the Plasma Research Lab (on and off), for more years than I care to remember. My field is computational plasma physics and I work primarily in the Space Plasma and Plasma Processing Group, on low temperature, low pressure radiofrequency discharges. I use a computational technique, known as Particle-in-cell, which has been developed in the lab since the mid-80's.
At the moment my main area of interest is capacitively coupled, pulsed, rf plasmas. If you're interested in my research I have a few short papers published on the web
- "Charging of the Blocking Capacitor in an Asymmetric Discharge"
- "Pulsing a low pressure rf plasma"
- "Simulation of Plasma Breakdown in a Low Pressure rf Plasma"
I'm also currently working with the Fusion Group, on a 3D ray-tracing code for the H-1 heliac. The program traces the path of a beam of microwave radiation directed into the plasma, using geometrical optics, and determines power transfer from the beam to the plasma electrons via electron cyclotron resonance heating. The theory is detailed in the paper "Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating in H-1"
For a brief work history and a list of my publications, have a look at my CV
If you want to contact me:Helen Smith
SP3, Plasma Research Laboratory
Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200
AUSTRALIAEmail: helen.b.smith@anu.edu.au