Mentors

Albert Viggiano

Albert A. Viggiano
Air Force Research Laboratory
Space Vehicles Directorate, 3550 Aberdeen Ave SE
Kirtland AFB 87117-5776

Education Ph.D. in Chemical Physics, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder 1980
B. Sc. in Chem. with highest honors, Univ. of Calif. Berkeley 1976

Work history/accomplishments: I am manager and chief scientist of the plasma chemistry laboratory. My group developed four state of the art instruments to study plasma kinetics over unmatched ranges of conditions. We specialize in measuring difficult to handle species such as atoms, O2(a1Dg), and H2SO4. Our forte is to continually push the envelope so that entirely new regimes of study become possible. Air Force/DoD applications of the research are wide ranging including reentry plasmas, the ionosphere, plasma assisted combustion, electric oxygen iodine laser, HAARP, energetic materials, and chemical weapon sensors.

We have doubled the highest temperatures for which both ion and electron molecule kinetics could be studied. The former, along with a technique for studying internal energy dependences of ion molecule reactions, led to the AF Basic Research award. Development of a technique to study reactivity at high pressures has been valuable in understanding scramjet engines and produced the only examples of specific energy transfer parameters for ions.

A comprehensive study on electron attachment to SF6 resolved numerous issues involving this well studied reaction and determined why the molecule does not quench plasmas at high temperature. I received the AFRL Science and Technology award for this work, which has been transitioned to the AF ionospheric and reentry programs.

Most recently, we have developed a technique that has allowed us access to numerous data that have been heretofore unobtainable. This includes the discovery of a new class of reactions, which we have dubbed electron catalyzed mutual neutralization (ECMN). This will affect most high density plasmas. In addition, the technique has yielded the only complete product distributions of ion-ion mutual neutralization reactions and a wealth of data on attachment to neutral radicals. The latter is extremely important for plasma processing.

I have authored over 350 refereed journal articles and book chapters, given 85 seminars at universities and laboratories and over 319 presentations at scientific meetings. I was elected fellow of the American Physical Society as well as chair of the Gaseous Ions Gordon Conference. The Air Force nominated me for the National Medal of Science. I have collaborated with numerous preeminent scientists including a Noble Prize winner and a number of National Academy of Science members as well as colleagues at Wright Paterson, Directed Energy, Edwards, and Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center. Most recently I was elected as an AFRL fellow, which came with 350,000 of research dollars.

Partial List of Recognitions and Awards:
Marcus O'Day Award (Geophysics Directorate Paper of the Year) 1993
Gunter Loeser Award (Geophysics Directorate Scientist of the Year) 1997
Air Force Basic Research Award 1999
Fellow of the American Physical Society 2000
Excellent in Refereeing JGR, 2000
Air Force Nominee for National Medal of Science 2003
NAS academy panel member 2005, 2011
Elected Chair of Gaseous Ions Gordon Research Conference 2005
AFRL Annual Science and Technology Award 2007
AFRL/VSB Science and Technology Team Award 2007
AFRL/RV Technology Transfer Achievement Team 2008
DARPA review panel on Instant Fire Suppression 2009-2011
AFRL Fellow 2011
Professional Society Membership
American Physical Society (Fellow)
American Chemical Society
American Geophysics Union
American Society for Mass Spectrometry