Editing Inertial electrostatic confinement (section)

===1990s===

Bussard and [[Nicholas Krall]] published theory and experimental results in the early nineties.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krall |first1=N. A. |last2=Coleman |first2=M. |last3=Maffei |first3=K. |last4=Lovberg |first4=J. |last5=Jacobsen |first5=R. |last6=Bussard |first6=R. W. |year=1995 |title=Forming and maintaining a potential well in a quasispherical magnetic trap |journal=Physics of Plasmas |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=146–158 |bibcode=1995PhPl....2..146K |s2cid=55528467 |doi=10.1063/1.871103 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>"Inertial electrostatic fusion (IEF): A clean energy future" (Microsoft Word document). Energy/Matter Conversion Corporation. Retrieved 2006-12-03.</ref> In response, Todd Rider at [[MIT]], under [[Lawrence Lidsky]] developed general models of the device.<ref name="Plasma Physics 1995"/> Rider argued that the device was fundamentally limited. That same year, 1995, William Nevins at [[LLNL]] published a criticism of the polywell.<ref name=Nevins1995>{{cite journal |last=Nevins |first=W. M. |title=Can inertial electrostatic confinement work beyond the ion–ion collisional time scale? |journal=Physics of Plasmas |publisher=AIP Publishing |volume=2 |issue=10 |year=1995 |issn=1070-664X |pages=3804–3819 |bibcode=1995PhPl....2.3804N |doi=10.1063/1.871080 |osti=41400 |url=https://www.osti.gov/biblio/41400 |access-date=2020-09-09 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref> Nevins argued that the particles would build up [[angular momentum]], causing the dense core to degrade.

In the mid-nineties, Bussard publications prompted the development of fusors at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] and at the [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]]. Madison's machine was first built in 1995.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Project - University of Wisconsin - Madison |website=iec.neep.wisc.edu |url=https://iec.neep.wisc.edu/results.php |access-date=2023-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202221946/http://iec.neep.wisc.edu/results.php |archive-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> [[George H. Miley]]'s team at Illinois built a 25&nbsp;cm fusor which has produced 10<sup>7</sup> neutrons using deuterium gas<ref name="Physics Research 1999">{{cite journal |last=Miley |first=George H. |title=A portable neutron/tunable X-ray source based on inertial electrostatic confinement |journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=422 |issue=1–3 |year=1999 |issn=0168-9002 |pages=16–20 |bibcode=1999NIMPA.422...16M |doi=10.1016/s0168-9002(98)01108-5|citeseerx=10.1.1.567.7259 }}</ref> and discovered the "star mode" of fusor operation in 1994.<ref>Miley Abstract Accomplishments, www.avrc.com/Miley_abstract_accomplishments.doc</ref> The following year, the first "US-Japan Workshop on IEC Fusion" was conducted. This is now the premier conference for IEC researchers. At this time in Europe, an IEC device was developed as a commercial neutron source by [[DaimlerChrysler Aerospace|Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace]] under the name FusionStar.<ref>{{cite journal |year=2000 |title=The IEC star-mode fusion neutron source for NAA--status and next-step designs |journal=Appl Radiat Isot |volume=53 |issue=4–5 |pages=779–83 |pmid=11003520 |last1=Miley |first1=George H. |last2=Sved |first2=J. |doi=10.1016/s0969-8043(00)00215-3|bibcode=2000AppRI..53..779M }}</ref> In the late nineties, hobbyist Richard Hull began building amateur fusors in his home.<ref name=youtube1>"Living with a nuclear reactor" The Wall Street Journal, interview with Sam Schechner, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJL3RQ4I-iE {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722034843/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJL3RQ4I-iE |date=2016-07-22}}</ref> In March 1999, he achieved a neutron rate of 10<sup>5</sup> neutrons per second.<ref name="prometheusfusionperfection.com">"The Neutron Club", Richard Hull, Accessed 6-9-2011, https://prometheusfusionperfection.com/category/fusor/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201210343/http://prometheusfusionperfection.com/category/fusor/ |date=2014-02-01}}</ref> Hull and Paul Schatzkin started fusor.net in 1998.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fusor.net |website=fusor.net |url=https://fusor.net/ |access-date=2014-01-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904123324/http://www.fusor.net/ |archive-date=2020-09-04}}</ref> Through this open forum, a community of amateur fusioneers have done nuclear fusion using homemade fusors.