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Turn a Kitchen Microwave Into a Plasma-Etching Device

posted by Fnord666 on Monday August 13 2018, @01:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-try-this-at-home-kids dept.

Bobs writes:

For those who want to play around with the other form of non-dark matter:

"Plasmas have never been easy to create or exploit. But now you can make them in your own kitchen. ...

Kausik Das of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and several colleagues who have found a way to create plasmas in an ordinary kitchen microwave. Their technique opens the way for a new generation to experiment with this exotic form of matter and perhaps to develop new applications.

They also demonstrate several interesting applications for home-brewed plasmas.

News:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611740/how-to-turn-a-kitchen-microwave-into-a-plasma-etching-device/

Details:
https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.06784

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13 2018, @05:26AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13 2018, @05:26AM (#720847)

    Fill flask with Mercury..

    First, get your mercury in the quantity required to do so...that's not as easy as it once was.
    36 years ago as a student I used to build mercury diff pumps (silicone oil? yes, they'd heard tell of such stuff)..we used to have gallons of mercury stored in an unlocked cupboard off a public corridor
    19 years ago I had ready access to 6-7 pints of the stuff.
    Nowadays? I don't even have a mercury thermometer in the house.

    A decent second-hand vacuum pump isn't that hard to come by, and there's always the homebrew option using the compressor from a fridge/freezer.

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 13 2018, @05:35AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 13 2018, @05:35AM (#720849) Journal

    First, get your mercury in the quantity required to do so...that's not as easy as it once was.

    Give the specific weight and depending on the flask volume, handling it in the quantity required may not be easy either (250 mL of Hg will have about 4kg. Take a 3l flask and it may crack before you get to fill it up).

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13 2018, @03:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13 2018, @03:05PM (#721000)

    First, get your mercury in the quantity required to do so...that's not as easy as it once was.

    It's easier than it ever was. You can order elemental mercury online and have it delivered to your door.