Professional Experience

Dr. Schmidt joined LLNL as a postdoctoral researcher in 2011 and then joined the staff in 2013. As a postdoc, she was involved in electrical grid research as well as modeling a short-pulse neutron source, the dense plasma focus (DPF). She performed the first kinetic modeling of a DPF, demonstrating that a particle approach was needed to correctly capture beam formation and neutron yield. She is now leading several projects in DPF research that have both modeling and experimental components. She is also a group leader for Engineering’s accelerator group.

Research Interests

Kinetic modeling of plasmas, dense plasma focus, neutron sources, radiation sources.

Ph.D., Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011

B.S., Physics, University of California/Berkeley, 2004

M. J. May, G. V. Brown, C. Halvorson, A. Schmidt, D. Bower, B. Tran, P. Lewis, and C. Hagen, “Gamma ray measurements with photoconductive detectors using a dense plasma focus,” Review of Scientific Instruments 85 11E117, 2014.

Schmidt, A., A. Link, D. Welch, B. T. Meehan, V. Tang, C. Halvorson, M. May, and E. C. Hagen, "Fully Kinetic Simulations of MegaJoule-Scale Dense Plasma Focus," Physics of Plasmas 21, p. 102703, 2014.

Schmidt, A., A. Link, D. Welch, J. Ellsworth, S. Falabella, and V. Tang, "Comparisons of dense-plasma-focus kinetic simulations with experimental measurements," Physical Review E 89(6), p. 061101, 2014.

J. Ellsworth, S. Falabella, V. Tang, A. Schmidt, G. Guethlein, S. Hawkins, and B. Rusnak, “Design and Initial Results from a Kilojoule Level Dense Plasma Focus with Hollow Anode and Cylindrically Symmetric Gas Puff,” Review of Scientific Instruments 85 013504, 2014.

Schmidt, A., V. Tang, and D. Welch, "Fully Kinetic Simulations of Dense Plasma Focus Z-Pinch Devices," Physical Review Letters 109(20), p. 205003, 2012.