Simon Liu, an electrical engineering student, has ingeniously crafted a guide for enthusiasts to construct their own open-source device that generates plasma toroids.
Inspired by the high-end design of tokamak reactors, which are used for nuclear fusion research, this manual aims to guide users in building their very own plasma toroid generator, which has been compared to a simplified ‘desktop tokamak.’ Collaboratively developed with a peer known as “Skylake,” the guide delineates the steps for assembling the generator with easily procurable and economical materials.
This intriguing device, which Liu fondly likens to its large-scale counterpart, the tokamak, operates without the complexity of magnetic confinement. At the heart of the design lies an 80mm glass sphere, infused with xenon gas, that hosts an alluring, purple plasma toroid. Central to Liu’s philosophy is the open-source approach, significantly reducing the cost and making this one of the most financially accessible DIY plasma toroid designs for hobbyists.
Constructive Guidance and Precautionary Measures
The generator bundle includes a unique printed circuit board (PCB) top plate suited to carry a copper coil, alongside a management board mounted with an aluminum heatsink and a cooling fan. These elements collectively provide thermal regulation, ensuring the high-power MOSFET doesn’t overheat when the piezoelectric starter is initiated to form the plasma ring. Liu stresses the importance of safety, advising enthusiasts to limit the operation of the device to no more than two minutes at a time, thus preventing excessive heat build-up and the risk of burns.
Followers with a penchant for DIY projects can access Liu’s comprehensive guide on his Instructables page. Moreover, for collaborative enhancement and sharing within the homemade hardware community, the PCB design files are readily accessible on GitHub. These files are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. A recent editorial note was appended to the guide indicating that, while this plasma generator takes conceptual cues from tokamak reactors, it functions sans magnetic confinement to generate plasma..