Robert Kaita

Robert Kaita is a Principal Research Physicist at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) since 1990. His work focuses on advanced plasma diagnostics and experimental fusion research, with key contributions to neutral beam heating, radio frequency wave applications, and plasma-surface interactions in tokamak systems.

Research Interests

• High temperature plasma diagnostics using neutral particle analysis
• X-ray and microwave imaging techniques for plasma studies
• Plasma heating and current drive via neutral beams and RF waves
• Investigation of plasma-surface interactions in fusion devices

Professional Experience

• Co-Principal Investigator for Current Drive Experiment-Upgrade (CDX-U) and Lithium Tokamak Experiment (LTX)
• Head of Diagnostic Operations for National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)
• Over 40 years of experimental research at PPPL spanning multiple tokamak projects