THE PLASMA SABER: POSSIBILITIES AND SHORTCOMINGS

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So, by comparing the properties of plasma and the physics of the lightsaber from the Star Wars Universe, we can see that several; requirements have already been met:

• Plasma is used in this experimental idea which is the basis of the Star Wars Lightsaber
• Because the plasma is divided into positively charged and negatively charged elements, if the negatively charged elements can be contained within the hilt or can be dispersed away from the blade, the blades on two separate sabers will repel one another as is desired.
• The plasma emits heat and light so the blade can be seen and can cut through material very well
• The plasma blade can be confined within a magnetic confinement to stabilize it and if the plasma fuses with its containment, you can develop a solid confined blade that emits light and heat and repels other blades.

http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm	http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm	http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm
http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm	The following images were taken from: http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm They demonstrate various experiments with plasma and plasma guns that have been used in discussion of developing a plasma blade lightsaber, igniting gas to generate plasma and confining plasma within magnetic confinement.	http://www.exn.ca/starwars/plasmasaber.cfm

That's not to say the plasma saber does not have its own shortcomings:

• Because plasma is the fourth state of matter after gas, it is extremely hot and may be too hot for use in a lightsaber.
• One can generate a cool plasma, but the cool plasma is incapable of destroying any materials. About the only thing it is useful for is altering surfacte porosity which takes too long to be useful in any combat situation.
• A decently cooled plasma blade can be formed by thrusting plasma out through a a jet such as that on a plasma gun. However these jets are enormous (see above table bottom left) and would be cumbersome to carry. Some people argue that miniturization can result in a small handheld hilt that emits a small beam at about 10,000 degrees Celsius. This means our blade will be even hotter and much smaller than would be desired for a lightsaber.
• Because the plasma is formed of positively charged ions of gas and negative electrons, so long as the two remain separate, the plasma will be stable but if the two recombine, the plasma loses energy and becomes unstable which is the case with most plasma on earth. As a result, the blade would be fairly unstable.
• Plasma, much like light, cannot be molded into the blade shape as desired. It can be confined within magnetic containment and will fuse with the material and form a shaped plasma blade. However, this leads to two problems: 1). The magnetic containment field cannot be retracted so we have the same problem that exists with the fixed blade saber and 2). if the blade comes in contact with a magnet, there is the possibility that the handler will be fried by the plasma energy.
• A plasma beam that is cool enough to handle and hot enough to destroy and has a defined shape and repels other blades and is stable would be impossible to build into a handheld shape with current technologies-the size of this saber would be enormous.

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