Christopher P. Email & Phone Number

Dayton, Ohio

• Founding member and technical lead of Riverside Research’s Plasma Laboratory, which performs research in the areas of astrophysics, space, ionospheric, propulsion, and hypersonic plasma-environments. • Led experiments as the Principal Investigator to study the effect of turbulence on electromagnetic scattering processes in plasma.• Designed and implemented a Thomson scattering diagnostic to measure the plasma parameters produced in Z-pinch experiments. Work was fully funded by successful competitive research proposals.

Livermore, Ca

• Led experiments to study solid tantalum and iron material strength at high pressure (>1Mbar) and at high strain rates (~10^7 s^-1), using the OMEGA and OMEGA-EP lasers at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Performed hydrodynamic modeling with material strength to interpret the experimental results. • Led radiation-hydrodynamic simulations for experiments to be carried out at the National Ignition Facility to investigate magnetic field generation mechanisms in counter-streaming laser-produced plasma flows. • Performed experiments to develop a dual-frame high-energy (22 keV) radiography diagnostic using two time-delayed short-pulse (10ps) laser beams, for use in High Energy Density experiments on the OMEGA laser, and at the National Ignition Facility.

Reno, Nevada Area

• Discovered a mechanism which allows an externally applied magnetic field to efficiently convert an initially explosive plasma flow into a collimated plasma jet. Results published in Physical Review Letters. • Proposed and led experiments employing a high-intensity laser system (≈10^17 W/cm^2) coupled to a pulsed power generator (0.6 MA peak current with a 200 ns rise time) to study plasma-magnetic field dynamics relevant to the interaction between the Earth’s magnetosphere and the solar wind. • Designed and fielded pulsed-laser interferometry, schlieren, Faraday rotation, and shadow imaging diagnostics to probe plasma-magnetic field interactions; designed and fielded several visible spectroscopy diagnostics to measure the parameters of laboratory plasmas.

Los Alamos, Nm

• Participated in proton acceleration experiments on the Trident laser.• Wrote a fully 3-D proton-tracer code to design a Thompson parabola which was capable of resolving high energy C5+ and C6+ ions.

Neva

• Developed diagnostics to measure the magnetic field in vacuum by employing the Faraday Effect through an optically active probe (work was partially funded by a competitive Undergraduate Research Award). • Designed coils to produce high magnetic fields (>100Tesla) in vacuum using a pulsed power generator.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Physics

- Dissertation title: “Investigation of Plasma Flow Across an External Magnetic Field” - Maintained a 3.96 GPA.

Master'S Degree, Physics

Physics, Physics, Mathematics

Activities and Societies: Vice President for the Society of Physics Students, 2004