Faculty Profiles


Darren Craig Headshot

Darren Craig, Ph.D.

Professor of Physics

On Faculty since 2006
630.752.7116
Science Center 358


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Dr. Craig is an experimental plasma physicist. He is married and has two children. Dr. Craig enjoys playing drums, working on home improvement projects, and fishing when he gets the chance.

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D., Physics, 1998

Michigan State University
B.S., Physics, with high honor, 1994

  • Science and Faith
  • Electricity and Magnetism
  • Optics
  • Space and Astrophysics
  • Plasmas
  • Physics
  • Spectroscopy
  • Computer Modeling
  • American Physical Society
  • American Association of Physics Teachers
  • American Scientific Affiliation
  • American Astronomical Society
  • University Fusion Association
  • PHYS 231 - Introductory Physics I
  • PHYS 232 - Introductory Physics II
  • PHYS 294 - Physics and Engineering Seminar
  • PHYS 321 - Math Methods for Physics and Engineering I
  • PHYS 334 - Computer Modeling of Physical Systems
  • PHYS 335 - Modern Science Skills Lab
  • PHYS 342 - Electromagnetic Theory
  • PHYS 343 - Experimental Physics
  • PHYS 344 - Quantum Mechanics
  • PHYS 351 - Analog Electronics
  • PHYS 353 - Introductory Optics
  • PHYS 354 - Advanced Optics
  • PHYS 359 - Thermodynamics
  • PHYS 362 - Plasma Physics
  • ASTR 302 - Stellar Astronomy
  • CORE 336 - Energy for the Future

Dr. Craig is an experimental plasma physicist. His research is on problems important for the confinement of hot plasmas for magnetic fusion energy and related problems in naturally occurring plasmas in space and astrophysics.

D. Craig, D. Martin, D.J. Den Hartog, M.D. Nornberg, and J.A. Reusch, “Magnetic and velocity fluctuations from nonlinearly coupled tearing modes in the reversed field pinch with and without the reversal surface,” Physics of  Plasmas 24, 082308 (2017).

M.M. Baltzer, D. Craig, D.J. Den Hartog, T. Nishizawa, and M.D. Nornberg, “Absolute wavelength calibration of a Doppler spectrometer with a custom Fabry-Perot optical system,” Review of Scientific Instrument 87, 11E509 (2016).

T. Nishizawa, M.D. Nornberg, D.J. Den Hartog, and D. Craig, “Upgrading a high-throughput spectrometer for high-frequency (<400 kHz) measurements,”  Review of Scientific Instruments 87, 11E530 (2016).

X. Feng, M.D. Nornberg, D. Craig, D.J. Den Hartog, and S.P. Oliva, “Spectroscopic determination of the composition of a 50 kV hydrogen diagnostic neutral beam,” Review of Scientific Instruments 87, 11E543 (2016).

J.S. Sarff, A.F. Almagri, J.K. Anderson, M. Borchardt, W. Cappechi, D. Carmody, K. Caspary, B.E. Chapman, D.J. Den Hartog, J. Duff, S. Eilerman, A. Falkowski, C.B. Forest, M. Galante, J.A. Goetz, D.J. Holly, J. Koliner, S. Kumar, J.D. Lee, D. Liu, K.J. McCollam, M. McGarry, V.V. Mirnov, L. Morton, S. Munaretto, M.D. Nornberg, P.D. Nonn, S.P. Oliva, E. Parke, M.J. Pueschel, J.A. Reusch, J.P. Sauppe, A. Seltzman, C.R. Sovinec, D. Stone, D. Theucks, M. Thomas, J. Triana, P.W. Terry, J. Waksman, G.C. Whelan, D.L. Brower, W.X. Ding, L. Lin, D.R. Demers, P. Fimognari, J. Titus, F. Auriemma, S. Cappello, P. Franz, P. Innocente, R. Lorenzini, E. Martines, B. Momo, P. Piovesan, M. Puiatti, M. Spolaore, D. Terranova, P. Zanca, V.I. Davydenko, P. Deichuli, A.A. Ivanov, S. Polosatkin, N.V. Stupishin, D. Spong, D. Craig, H. Stephens, R.W. Harvey, M. Cianciosa, J.D. Hanson, B.N. Breizman, M. Li, and L.J. Zheng, “Overview of results from the MST reversed field pinch experiment,” Nuclear Fusion 55, 104006 (2015).

M.S. Cartolano, D. Craig, D.J. Den Hartog, S.T.A. Kumar, and M.D. Nornberg, “Statistical analysis of variations in impurity ion heating at reconnection events in the Madison Symmetric Torus,” Physics of  Plasmas 21, 012510 (2014).

J.S. Sarff, A.F. Almagri, J.K. Anderson, M. Borchardt, D. Carmody, K. Caspary, B.E. Chapman, D.J. Den Hartog, J. Duff, S. Eilerman, A. Falkowski, C.B. Forest, J.A. Goetz, D.J. Holly, J.-H. Kim, J. King, J. Ko, J. Koliner, S. Kumar, J.D. Lee, D. Liu, R. Magee, K.J. McCollam, M. McGarry, V.V. Mirnov, M.D. Nornberg, P.D. Nonn, S.P. Oliva, E. Parke, J.A. Reusch, J.P. Sauppe, A. Seltzman, C.R. Sovinec, H. Stephens, D. Stone, D. Theucks, M. Thomas, J. Triana, P.W. Terry, J. Waksman, D.L. Brower, W.X. Ding, L. Lin, D.R. Demers, P. Fimognari, J. Titus, S. Cappello, P. Franz, P. Innocente, R. Lorenzini, E. Martines, B. Momo, P. Piovesan, M. Puiatti, M. Spolaore, D. Terranova, P. Zanca V. Belykh, V.I. Davydenko, P. Deichuli, A.A. Ivanov, S. Polosatkin, N.V. Stupishin, D. Spong, D. Craig, R.W. Harvey, M. Cianciosa, and J.D. Hanson, “Overview of results from the MST reversed field pinch experiment,” Nuclear Fusion 53, 104017 (2013).

S.T.A. Kumar, A.F. Almagri, D. Craig, D.J. Den Hartog, M.D. Nornberg, J.S. Sarff, and P.W. Terry, “Charge-to-mass-ratio-dependent ion heating during magnetic reconnection in the MST RFP,” Physics of  Plasmas 20, 056501 (2013).

S.T.A. Kumar, D.J. Den Hartog, V.V. Mirnov, K.J. Caspary, R.M. Magee, D.L. Brower, B.E. Chapman, D. Craig, W.X. Ding, S. Eilerman, G. Fiksel, L. Lin, M. Nornberg, E. Parke, J.A. Resuch, and J.S. Sarff, “Classical confinement and outward convection of impurity ions in the MST RFP,” Physics of Plasmas 19, 056121 (2012).

S.T.A. Kumar, D.J. Den Hartog, B.E. Chapman, M. O’Mullane, M. Nornberg, D. Craig, S. Eilerman, G. Fiksel, E. Parke, and J. Reusch, “High resolution charge-exchange spectroscopic measurements of aluminum ions in a high temperature plasma,”  Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 54, 012002 (2012).

S.T.A. Kumar, D.J. Den Hartog, K.J. Caspary, R.M. Magee, V.V. Mirnov, B.E. Chapman, D. Craig, G. Fiksel, and J.S. Sarff, “Classical Impurity Ion Confinement in a Toroidal Magnetized Fusion Plasma,” Physical Review Letters 108, 125006 (2012).

D. Craig, D.J. Den Hartog, D.A. Ennis, S. Gangadhara, and D. Holly, “High throughput spectrometer for fast localized Doppler measurements,Review of Scientific Instruments 78, 013103 (2007).

S. Gangadhara, D. Craig, D.A. Ennis, D.J. Den Hartog, G. Fiksel, and S.C. Prager, “Spatially resolved measurements of ion heating during impulsive reconnection in the Madison Symmetric Torus,” Physical Review Letters 98, 075001 (2007).

S.H. Choi, D. Craig, S.C. Prager, “Cause of Sudden Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma,” Physical Review Letters 96, 145004 (2006).

D. Craig, A. F. Almagri, J. K. Anderson, J. T. Chapman, C.-S. Chiang, N. A. Crocker,
D. J. Den Hartog, G. Fiksel, S. C. Prager, J. S. Sarff, and M. R. Stoneking, “Enhanced confinement with plasma biasing in the MST reversed field pinch,Physical Review Letters, 79, 1865 (1997).