Fusor

A fusor is a device that uses an electric field to heat ions to a temperature at which they undergo nuclear fusion. The machine induces a potential difference between two metal cages, inside a vacuum. Positive ions fall down this voltage drop, building up speed. If they collide in the center, they can fuse. This is one kind of an inertial electrostatic confinement device – a branch of fusion research.

A Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor is the most common type of fusor.^[1] This design came from work by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1964 and Robert L. Hirsch in 1967.^[2][3] A variant type of fusor had been proposed previously by William Elmore, James L. Tuck, and Ken Watson at the Los Alamos National Laboratory^[4] though they never built the machine.

Fusors have been built by various institutions. These include academic institutions such as the University of Wisconsin–Madison,^[5] the Massachusetts Institute of Technology^[6] and government entities, such as the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority.^[7][8] Fusors have also been developed commercially, as sources for neutrons by DaimlerChrysler Aerospace^[9] and as a method for generating medical isotopes.^[10][11][12] Fusors have also become very popular for hobbyists and amateurs. A growing number of amateurs have performed nuclear fusion using simple fusor machines.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]} However, fusors are not considered a viable concept for large-scale energy production by scientists.