Richard Petrasso

Senior Research Scientist, Group Leader, High-Energy-Density Research
	Email: petrasso@psfc.mit.edu Phone: (617) 253-8458 Address: Room NW17-256 Related links: High-Energy-Density Division

Research Interests

Since 1972 Richard Petrasso has designed and implemented experiments measuring x-ray and high-energy radiation of space and laboratory plasmas. He is an expert on the mechanisms of x-ray, g -ray, and nuclear particle generation, and the detection of these radiations.

Education

Ph.D., Brandeis University, 1972, Experimental Atomic Physics, NASA Fellowship (1967-70)
B.Sc., Oregon State University, 1967

Biographical Sketch

Since 1972 Richard Petrasso has designed and implemented experiments measuring x-ray and high-energy radiation of space and laboratory plasmas. He is an expert on the mechanisms of x-ray, g -ray, and nuclear particle generation, and the detection of these radiations. Among other recent roles, he is a member of the Target Physics Advisory Committee for the Inertial Confinement Fusion Program (1994-99) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); an Editorial Board Member of Phystech. Journal, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (1995-99); the Public Relations Coordinator (1994-96) of the Division of Plasma Physics of American Physical Society; the Reviewer of 1989 and 1993 Division of Plasma Physics Meetings (published in Nature); a member of the Public and Interdivisional Affairs Committee of the Division (1996-98); a committee member of the National Laser Users’ Facility (1993-97); and for Physics Today, he selects the reviewers of new books in plasma physics and general physics. He is actively involved in science educational programs and from 1992-96 was the Physical Science Advisor to National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation/Science Friday. He is a scientific consultant to LLNL’s inertial fusion program, and is one of three co-authors of Science at the National Ignition Facility, a document that explores the scientific potential and new physics of this facility. With colleagues at Lawrence Livermore, University of Rochester, and MIT, he published in Phys. Rev. Letters a novel method to diagnose, via very energetic protons, the ultra-high-density plasmas (~1000 g/cm3, 6 times the solar core density) that are expected at the National Ignition Facility and Omega. Presently he is the Principal Investigator of a program to implement two large charged-particle spectrometers on Omega.

1972-74: Scientist, American Science and Engineering, Inc. (AS&E); responsible for testing and calibrating astronomical x-ray telescopes, including that flown on NASA’s Skylab Mission. Discovered the effects of ~10 angstrom surface structure upon x-ray mirror scattering properties.

1975-77: Senior Scientist, AS&E; designed space experiments and analyzed solar x-ray flares. Determined that energy input required long after the explosive phase of a solar flare. Co-recipient of NASA’s Achievement Award (for Skylab X-ray Telescope).

1977-83: Senior Staff Scientist, AS&E; Head, Plasma Diagnostic Group. Principal Investigator of DOE programs on laboratory plasma diagnostics, including the first x-ray imaging arrays on the Alcator-A tokamak. In the field of solar physics, he was the lead author of work that showed that solar flare electron densities can exceed 1011 cm-3. Reviewer for Solar Physics. Visiting Scientist, MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

1983-98: Research Scientist (83-89), Principal Research Scientist (89-98), and Senior Research Scientist (98-99), MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Head (and originator) of X-Ray and Nuclear Experiments Group (since 1983). Led a series of x-ray imaging experiments on the Alcator and TEXT tokamaks (1976-90). In 1993 with student C.K. Li, developed simple, analytic methods to treat moderately coupled plasmas (i.e., plasmas that comprise most of the matter of stars as well as dense, inertially-confined laboratory plasmas). In 1989 his group first showed (and published in Nature) the exact reasons why Fleischmann’s and Pons’ claim to detect cold-fusion nuclear particles was erroneous. He has been the Ph.D. advisor to 6 MIT students, and the Principal Investigator of many different programs. He is a referee for Physical Review Letters, Nature, and Physics of Plasmas.

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Selected Publications

Publications since 1989

Will the Alphas Abscond?, R. D. Petrasso, Nature 369 105, 1994. (Review of conference on Deuterium-tritium fusion experiments at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.)

Lord Rayleigh’s Challenge Endures, R. D. Petrasso, Nature367 217, 1994. (Review of the 1993 Am. Phys. Soc. Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, in particular the role of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in ICF.) Solar Conundrums, R. D. Petrasso, Nature 355 29, 1992.

Fusion Energy – The Moment of Truth Nears, R. D. Petrasso, Nature350 661, 1991. (Review of conference on progress in magnetic fusion energy.)

Plasmas Everywhere, R. D. Petrasso, Nature 342 21, 1990. (Review of the 1989 Am. Phys. Soc. Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics.)

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Peer-reviewed articles

Tertiary Proton Diagnostics in Future ICF Experiments, S. Cremer, C. P. Verdon, and R. D. Petrasso, Phys. Plasmas 5, 4009 (1998).

Measuring Implosion Symmetry and Core Conditions at the National Ignition Facility, R. D. Petrasso, C. K. Li, M. D. Cable, S. M. Pollaine, S. W. Haan, T. P. Bernat, J. D. Kilkenny, S. Cremer, J. P. Knauer, C. P. Verdon, and R. L.

Kremens, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 2718 (1996).

Diagnostics for High Density Implosions at the National Ignition Facility, M. D. Cable, T. W. Barbee, R. A. Lerche, M. B. Nelson, M. J. Moran, D. B. Ress, T. C Sangster, J. E. Trebes, R. E. Turner, T. W. Phillips, D. G. Hicks, C. K. Li, R. D. Petrasso, and F. H. Seguin, IAEA-CN-64/BP-8 (1996).

Design of an Electronic Charged Particle Spectrometer to Measure r R on Inertial Fusion Experiments, D. G. Hicks, C. K. Li, R. D. Petrasso, F. H. Seguin, B. E. Burke, J. P. Knauer, S. Cremer, R. L. Kremens, M. D. Cable and T. W. Phillips, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68, 589 (1997).

Charge-Coupled Devices for Charged-Particle Spectroscopy on Omega and NOVA, C. K. Li, D. G. Hicks, R. D. Petrasso, F. H. Seguin, M. D. Cable, T. W. Phillips, T. C. Sangster, J. P. Knauer, S. Cremer, and R. L. Kremens, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68, 593 (1997).

A Study of CR-39 Track Response to Charged Particles from NOVA Implosion, T. W. Phillips, M. D. Cable, D. G. Hicks, C. K. Li, R. D. Petrasso, and F. H. Seguin, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68, 596 (1997).

Use of Charged-particle Device Images for Charged-Particle Spectroscopy, B. E. Burke, R. D. Petrasso, C. K. Li, T. C. Hotaling, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68, 599 (1997).

Radiation-Hardened X-Ray Imaging for Burning-Plasma Tokamaks, F. H. Séguin, R. D. Petrasso, and C. K. Li, Rev. Sci. Instrum.68, 599 (1997).

Target Diagnostic System for National Ignition Facility, R. J. Leeper, G. A. Chandler, G. W. Cooper, M. S. Derzon, D. L. Fehl, D. E. Hebron, JA. R. Moats, D. D. Noack, J. L. Porter, L. E. Ruggles, C. L. Ruiz, J. A. Torres, M. D. Cable, P. M. Bell, C. A. Clower, B. A. Hammel, D. H. Kalantar, V. P. Karpenko, R. L. Kauffman, J. D. Kilkenny, F. D. Lee, R. A. Lerche, B. J. MacGowan, M. B. Nelson, W. Olsen, T. J. Orzechowski, T. W. Phillips, D. Ress, G. L. Tietbohl, J. E. Trebes, R. J. Bartlett, R. Berggren, S. E. Caldwell, R. E. Chrien, B. H. Failor, J. C. Fernandez, A. Hauer, G. Idzorek, R. G. Hockaday, T. J. Murphy, J. Oertel, R. Watt, M. Willke, D. K. Bradley, J. P. Knauer, R. D. Petrasso, and C. K. Li, Rev. Sci. Instrum.68, 868 (1997).

Effects of Scattering upon Energetic Ion Energy Loss, C. K. Li and R. D. Petrasso, Phys. Plasmas 2, 2460 (1995). (Based in part on C.K. Li’s Invited Talk at APS Div. Pl. Phys. Meeting, 1994).

Novel X-Ray Sources for Developing X-Ray Instrumentation, C. K. Li, R. D. Petrasso, K. W. Wenzel, D. H. Lo, and C. M. Borras, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 66, 697 (1995).

Charged-Particle Stopping Powers in Inertial Confinement Fusion Plasmas, C. K. Li, and R. D. Petrasso, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 3059 (1993).

Fokker-Planck Equation for Moderately Coupled Plasmas, C. K. Li and R. D. Petrasso, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 3063 (1993).

Radiation Belt Monitor for the High Energy Transient Experiment Satellite, D. H. Lo, K. W. Wenzel, R. D. Petrasso, G. Prigozhin, J. Doty, and G. Ricker, Exper. Astron. 4, 59 (1993).

Response of X-UV Photodiodes to 1.5 to 17.5 keV X Rays and MeV Alpha Particles, K. W. Wenzel, JC. K. Li, R. D. Petrasso, D. H. Lo, M. W. Bautz, G. R. Ricker, Jr., and E. Hsieh, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 64, 1723 (1993).

14 MeV Neutron Yields from D-T Operation of the MIT Cockcroft-Walton Accelerator, M. C. Borras, K. W. Wenzel, D. H. Lo, R. D. Petrasso, D. A. Pappas, C. K. Li, and J. W. Coleman, J. Fus. Energy 12(3), 317 (1993).

Comment on "Cluster-Impact Fusion", D. H. Lo, R. D. Petrasso, and K. W. Wenzel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 2107 (1992).

A Fusion-Products Source, K. W. Wenzel, D. H. Lo, R. D. Petrasso, J. W. Coleman, JC. K. Li, J. R. Lierzer, C. Borras, E. Hsieh and T. Bernat, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63, 4837 (1992).

PIXE X-Rays: from Z=4 to Z=92, C. K. Li, K. W. Wenzel, R. D. Petrasso, J. W. Coleman, J. R. Lierzer, T. Wei, E. Hsieh and T. Bernat, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63, 4843 (1992).

Response of SBDs to MeV Protons, Tritons and Alphas: Evidence that the Charged-Particle Sensitive Depth is not Generally the Depletion Depth, D. H. Lo, R. D. Petrasso, K. W. Wenzel, J. W. Coleman, C. K. Li, J. R Lierzer, E. Hsieh and T. Bernat, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63, 4850 (1992).

MIT Modular X-Ray Source for the Characterization of Plasma Diagnostics, J. W. Coleman, K. W. Wenzel, R. D. Petrasso, D. H. Lo, C. K. Li, J. R. Lierzer and T. Wei, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63, 4834 (1992).

A Proton Activation Diagnostic to Measure D-3He Reaction Yields, J. R. Lierzer, K. W. Wenzel, R. D. Petrasso, D. H. Lo, J. W. Coleman, C. K. Li, E. Hsieh and T. Bernat, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63, 4847 (1992).

MIT Fusion Gamma Ray Diagnostic Development, K. W. Wenzel, R. D. Petrasso, D. H. Lo, C. K. Li, J. W. Coleman, J. R. Lierzer, E. Hsieh and T. Bernat, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63 4840 (1992).

Measurement and Analysis of Neutron and Gamma Ray Emission Rates, Other Fusion Products, and Power in Electrochemical Cells Having Pd Cathodes, D. Albagli, R. Ballinger, V. Cammarata, X. Chen, R. M. Crooks, C. Fiore, M. J. P. Gaudreau, I. Hwang, C. K. Li, P. Linsay, JS. C. Luckhardt, R. R. Parker, R. D. Petrasso, M. O. Schloh, JK. W. Wenzel, M. S. Wrighton, J. Fusion Energy 9, 133 (1990).

Problems with the Gamma Ray Spectra in the Fleischmann and Pons Experiments, R. D. Petrasso, X. Chen, K. W. Wenzel, R. Parker, C. K. Li and C. Fiore, Nature339, 183 (1989).

Absence of Neutrons and Gamma Rays from the Fleischmann and Pons Cold Fusion Experiments, R. D. Petrasso, X. Chen, K. W. Wenzel, R. Parker, C. K. Li and C. Fiore, Nature 339, 667 (1989).

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