Ady Hershcovitch is a

plasma Plasma or plasm may refer to: Science * Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter * Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral * Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics Biology * Blood pla ...

physicist best known for his 1995 invention, the

plasma window The plasma window (not to be confused with a ''plasma shield'') is a technology that fills a volume of space with plasma confined by a magnetic field. With current technology, this volume is quite small and the plasma is generated as a flat plane in ...

, which was later patented. (United States Patent: 5578831:Hershcovitch). In the plasma window, a plasma (which is an ionized gas confined by

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

fields) separates air from a

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...

by preventing the air from rushing into the vacuum. This scientific development can facilitate non-vacuum ion material modification, manufacturing of superalloys, and high-quality non-vacuum electron-beam welding. The device has been compared to the force field in the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' TV series. He is well known for his work in plasma physics at

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

. He has over 80 publications and 15 patents.

Academic career

Hershcovitch earned his Masters in Nuclear Engineering in 1975 and his Sc.D. In Applied Plasma Physics in 1977 at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. In 1980, Hershcovitch continued his research at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY. Some of his most notable research involves development of plasma windows for transmission of

synchrotron radiation Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung radiation) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (). It is produced artificially in ...

and

particle beam A particle beam is a stream of charged or neutral particles. In particle accelerators, these particles can move with a velocity close to the speed of light. There is a difference between the creation and control of charged particle beams and neu ...

s, in-situ coating techniques for

Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC ) is the first and one of only two operating heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider ever built. Located at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York, and used by an ...

(RHIC) designed to reduce cold-bore resistivity and electron cloud formation, working on the

Active Denial System The Active Denial System (ADS) is a Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal directed-energy weapon developed by the United States armed forces, U.S. military, designed for area denial, perimeter security and crowd control. Informally, the weapon is also c ...

(ADS) for

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...

transmutation and sub-critical

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...

s, development of

electron gun An electron gun (also called electron emitter) is an electrical component in some vacuum tubes that produces a narrow, collimated electron beam that has a precise kinetic energy. The largest use is in cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), used in nearly ...

s with plasma cathodes, directing projects in Russia aimed at development of high charge state DC

ion source An ion source is a device that creates atomic and molecular ions. Ion sources are used to form ions for mass spectrometers, optical emission spectrometers, particle accelerators, ion implanters and ion engines. Electron ionization Electron ...

s for MeV ion implanters and developing a non-vacuum

electron beam Cathode rays or electron beam (e-beam) are streams of electrons observed in discharge tubes. If an evacuated glass tube is equipped with two electrodes and a voltage is applied, glass behind the positive electrode is observed to glow, due to ele ...

and in-water techniques like welders and water purifiers. He was an adjunct professor at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

in Dallas, Texas from 2006-2010 and is currently an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University in

Stony Brook, NY Stony Brook is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. Begun in the colonial era as an agricultural enclave, the hamlet experienced gr ...

International collaboration

Tomsk, Russia Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

, Hershcovitch works as a consultant for Plasma Sources LTD. He also works with the

Skolkovo Foundation The Skolkovo Foundation is the principal agency, as a part of VEB.RF group (ex-Vnesheconombank), responsible for the Russian Skolkovo Innovation Center, a scientific and technological center for the development and commercialization of advanced te ...

as a Nuclear Cluster Expert Panel Member to promote research that can result in commercial products. Since 2010, Hershcovitch has also been a visiting scientist at the Riken Nishina Center in Wako, Japan.

Awards and honors

In 1987, he received the I.R. 100 Award for the development of ion-sensitive probe and in 1996, after patenting the Plasma Window, Hershcovitch received the R&D 100 Award, both selected as one of the 100 most significant technological developments worldwide. On October 1, 2007, he was elected to the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

Fellowship.

Personal life

Hershcovitch is currently married to Kathy Hershcovitch and resides in

Long Island, NY Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

Media

Hershcovitch’s plasma window was featured on the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

program "

The Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Ac ...

" pertaining to Weapons of the Future. The Plasma Window is featured in book by

Michio Kaku Michio Kaku (, ; born January 24, 1947) is an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, futurist, and popular science, popularizer of science (science communicator). He is a professor of theoretical physics in the City College of New ...

titled “Physics of the Impossible”.

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

has listed the plasma window as one of the 10 impossibilities conquered by science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hershcovitch, Ady 21st-century American physicists MIT School of Engineering alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American physicists 20th-century American inventors Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society