Fusors have been theoretically studied at multiple institutions, including: Kyoto University,[1] and Kyushu University.[2] Researchers meet annually at the US-Japan Workshop on Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion. The following is a list of machines that were actually built.
Tokyo Institute of Technology has four IEC devices of different shapes: a spherical machine, a cylindrical device, a co-axial double cylinder and a magnetically assisted device.[3]
Turkish Atomic Energy Authority In 2013 this team built a 30 cm fusor at the Saraykoy Nuclear Research and Training center in Turkey. This fusor can reach 85 kV and do deuterium fusion, producing 2.4×104 neutrons per second.[5]
University of Illinois Dr. George Miley's team at the fusion studies laboratory has built a ~25 cm fusor which has produced 1×107 neutrons using deuterium gas.[6]
University of Sydney Dr. Joseph Khachan's group in the Department of Physics has built a variety of IEC devices in both positive and negative polarities and spherical and cylindrical geometries.[7]
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Researchers at Shahid Beheshti University in Iran have built a 60 cm diameter fusor which can produce 1×107 neutrons per second at 140 kV using deuterium gas.[8]
Los Alamos National Laboratory In the late nineties, researchers purposed[9] and built a fusor-like system for oscillating plasma, inside a fusor. This device is known as the Periodically Oscillating Plasma Sphere or POPS.[10]
ITT CorporationHirschs original machine was a 17.8 cm diameter machine with 150 kV voltage drop across it.[citation needed] This machine used ion beams.
Phoenix Nuclear Labs has developed a commercial neutron source based on a fusor, achieving 3×1011 neutrons per second with the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction.[citation needed]
Amateur
A number of amateurs have built working fusors and detected neutrons. Many fusor enthusiasts connect on forums[14] and message boards online. Below are some examples of working fusors.
Richard Hull Since the late nineties, Richard Hull has built several fusors in his home in Richmond, Virginia.[15] In March 1999, he achieved a neutron rate of 10×105 neutrons per second.[16] Hull maintains a list of amateurs who have detected neutrons from fusors.
Carl Greninger Founded the Northwest Nuclear Consortium,[17] an organization in Washington state which teaches a class of a dozen high school students nuclear engineering principles using a 60 kV fusor.[18]
Matthew Honickman Was a high school student who built a working fusor in his basement in Rochester, New York.[21]
Michael Li In 2003, Michael Li became the youngest person to date to build a fusor, winning second place[22] in the US Intel Science Talent Search winning a $75,000 college scholarship.[16]
Mark Suppes A web designer for Gucci in Brooklyn New York, built a working fusor on a path to building the first amateur Polywell.[23][24]
Jamie Edwards who fused the atom at 13, at his middle school in England.[28] He received a letter from the Duke of York, was invited on The David Letterman Show and gave a TED talk.[29]
Conrad Farnsworth of Newcastle, Wyoming produced fusion in 2011 at 17[30][31] and used this to win a regional and state science fair.
^Matsuura, H.; Takaki, T.; Funakoshi, K.; Nakao, Y.; Kudo, K. (2000). "Ion distribution function and radial profile of neutron production rate in spherical inertial electrostatic confinement plasmas". Nuclear Fusion. 40 (12): 1951–1954. doi:10.1088/0029-5515/40/12/101. S2CID250801202.
^Ashley, R.P.; Kulcinski, G.L.; Santarius, J.F.; Murali, S.K.; Piefer, G. (1999). D-/sup 3/He fusion in an inertial electrostatic confinement device. 18th IEEE/NPSS Symposium on Fusion Engineering. Albuquerque, NM. doi:10.1109/FUSION.1999.849787.
^Bölükdemir, A.S.; Akgün, Y.; Alaçakır, A. (2013). "Preliminary Results of Experimental Studies from Low Pressure Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Device". Journal of Fusion Energy. 32 (5): 561–565. Bibcode:2013JFuE...32..561B. doi:10.1007/s10894-013-9607-z. S2CID120272975.
^Miley, George H. (1999). "A portable neutron/tunable X-ray source based on inertial electrostatic confinement". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 422 (1–3): 16–20. Bibcode:1999NIMPA.422...16M. doi:10.1016/S0168-9002(98)01108-5.
^Damideh, V. (11 June 2011). "Experimental Study of the Iranian Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Device as a Continuous Neutron Generator". Journal of Fusion Energy. 31 (2): 109–111. doi:10.1007/s10894-011-9438-8. S2CID254651166.
^"Stable, thermal equilibrium, large-amplitude, spherical plasma oscillations in electrostatic confinement devices", DC Barnes and Rick Nebel, PHYSICS OF PLASMAS VOLUME 5, NUMBER 7 JULY 1998
^Barnes, D.C.; Chacón, L.; Finn, J.M. (November 2002). "Equilibrium and low-frequency stability of a uniform density, collisionless, spherical Vlasov system". Physics of Plasmas. 9 (11): 4448–4464. Bibcode:2002PhPl....9.4448B. doi:10.1063/1.1510667.
^McGuire, Thomas; Sedwick, Raymond (21 July 2008). Numerical Predictions of Enhanced Ion Confinement in a Multi-grid IEC Device. 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit. Hartford, Connecticut. doi:10.2514/6.2008-4675.
^"Neutron Activation Analysis Using an Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Reactor," Thiago David Olson of Stoney Creek High School, Rochester Hills, Michigan AVS Newsletter, Fall 2007, page 3, 2007 Intel 58th International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)