In 1954, Chen worked at the
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), where he worked initially with the Model B1
Stellarator, a device used to confine hot plasma with
magnetic fields in order to sustain a controlled
nuclear fusion reaction. With the B1 Stellarator, Chen was the first to show that electrons could be trapped by a magnetic field for millions of traverses. Chen remained at PPPL until 1969. In 1969, Chen became a professor of electrical engineering at the
University of California, Los Angeles. In 1994, Chen became a
professor emeritus. Chen was a visiting scientist at the nuclear research center in Fontenay-aux-Roses in 1962-63, 1977 in
Lausanne and in 1985 in
Australia and
Japan. Chen has been concerned with not only basic research in plasma physics and
magnetic and
inertial confinement fusion, but also with low-energy plasma physics for industrial applications such as semiconductors. He has worked in both theoretical and experimental plasma physics. He has studied multiple subfields of plasma physics including:
plasma diagnostics, accelerator concepts with plasmas,
helicon plasma sources, plasma instabilities of
laser interaction,
Langmuir probes,
resistive drift waves, anomalous diffusion, and
Q-machines. He wrote a very well known and highly regarded Introductory plasma physics textbook (see below). During Chen's career, he has published over 240
technical papers. == Honors and awards ==