Professor
The Stephen and Mary Meadow Professorial Chair of Laser Photochemistry
Tel:+972-8-934-4055
yitzhak.maron@weizmann.ac.il
Location:Edna and K.B. Weissman Building of Physical Sciences Room: 242
Current Research Interests
Plasma physics, atomic physics, plasma spectroscopy, non-equilibrium plasmas, high-energy-density physics, plasmas under pulsed magnetic fields, generation of ion and electron beams, plasma implosions and stagnations, laser-matter interaction, warm dense matter, implications to fusion and space physics.
Diagnostic methods based on fast, high-resolution plasma spectroscopy of spontaneous emission in the visible, U.V., vacuum UV, and x-ray regions, as well as on spectroscopy of laser absorption and laser stimulated emission.
In the Plasma Laboratory we study processes in plasmas subjected to high-energy deposition. We examine the interaction of nonequilibrium plasmas with strong electric and magnetic fields, the propagation of ionization fronts, the production of shock waves, conversion of energy in pulsed-power systems, generation of fast particle beams, generation of magnetic shocks, development of collective fluctuating fields, and plasma-surface interactions.
The diagnostic methods are based on fast, high-resolution plasma spectroscopy of spontaneous emission and absorption in the visible, U.V., vacuum UV, and x-ray regions, as well as on spectroscopy of laser absorption and laser-stimulated emission. Theoretical analysis of the experimental data is based on detailed modeling of atomic-physics processes that govern the atomic/ionic spectral-line broadening, atomic-level splitting under electric and magnetic fields, field ionization, multiple ionizations and time-dependent collisional-radiative calculations and radiation-transport modeling.
Magnetohydrodynamic simulations are used to account for the nonequilibrium kinetic and transport processes in the plasmas.The research in the laboratory is relevant to the understanding of high-energy-density plasmas in various systems and of astrophysical data.
Awards and Honors
2009 APS John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research
Citation: “For revolutionary, non-invasive spectroscopic techniques to measure magnetic fields in dense plasmas and for resolving in detail in space and time the implosion phase of the Z pinch.” APS announcement
2007 IEEE Plasma Science and Applications Award
Citation: “For pioneering the application of spectroscopic techniques to the detailed space and time characterization of electric and magnetic fields, charged-particle beams, and plasmas under extreme conditions of high-current, high-voltage, high-fields, and short-duration.” IEEE announcement
IEEE Fellow (2005)
Citation: “For contributions to spectroscopic techniques for diagnosing high-current, high-voltage electric and magnetic properties.”
APS Fellow (1996)
Citation: “For pioneering the employment of novel spectroscopic methods to diagnose the field and plasma properties in pulsed-power systems, including the development of the atomic-physics modeling required for the data analysis.”