Plasma Toroid
A few days ago I found out about a plasma effect that turned out to be easy to duplicate (since I had most of the parts needed). Basically the globe is a low pressure xenon globe (with some oxygen contamination ie green). The circuit driving the loop of wire is a ~10MHz oscillator running at about 19V and 3 amps.
The oscillator sets up a field that is not enough to ionize the xenon. I used a HV vacuum leak coil to ionize the globe. The mystery is why it forms a stable toroid. In this video the loop is at the top of the globe. The ionized ring is hot, rises to the top of the globe and sits there. I am changing the bias on the 10MHz to lower the power until the toroid decays.
Why the toroid forms in the first place is not something I can explain. I also like the little noises it makes as I change the bias.
Cheers.
Plasma Toroid
A few days ago I found out about a plasma effect that turned out to be easy to duplicate (since I had most of the parts needed). Basically the globe is a low pressure xenon globe (with some oxygen contamination ie green). The circuit driving the loop of wire is a ~10MHz oscillator running at about 19V and 3 amps.
The oscillator sets up a field that is not enough to ionize the xenon. I used a HV vacuum leak coil to ionize the globe. The mystery is why it forms a stable toroid. In this video the loop is at the top of the globe. The ionized ring is hot, rises to the top of the globe and sits there. I am changing the bias on the 10MHz to lower the power until the toroid decays.
Why the toroid forms in the first place is not something I can explain. I also like the little noises it makes as I change the bias.
Cheers.