University of Wisconsin-Madison

The third method of causing fusion is to accelerate ions at each other through the use of electrostatic fields. This is sometimes called Inertial Electrostatic Fusion, or IEF. The concept was first proposed by Farnsworth, 1966 (who was the inventor of television), and later demonstrated experimentally by Hirsch, 1967. The accelerating voltage can be generated by placing a negatively biased spherical wire grid inside a larger positively biased spherical grid. While such an arrangement can, and has, produced fusion reactions at the 1 Watt or less level, it is not practical for large scale electric power production. The plasma would eventually "burn" up the grid. (However, we shall see later that such a facility can be useful as a commercial source of high energy neutrons or protons.)