John Thurman is harnessing the power of plasma. He’s the CEO and co-founder of an Albuquerque startup called Archer Labs, which has a device that generates plasma to boost plant production and yield.
In interviews on May 18 and May 19, Thurman spelled out the concept behind Archer Labs.
“We discharge plasma across a really small area, or across some sort of gap, and what you’re getting when you discharge plasma is ionization,” he said.
In other words, the air surrounding the plants is electrified. Doing so is meant to generate airborne nitrates, nitrites and ultraviolet energy. At the same time, seeds and plants receive surface scarring and micro-perforations, allowing for supercharged particles to enter plant cells. Ideally, treated plants would exhibit higher yield or grow faster, allowing for shorter amounts of time between harvests.
Thurman co-founded the business in 2019 with chief engineer Haynes Wood and chief technology officer Rajat Adhikari, who each spent time in the government sector.
For Wood and Thurman, that meant working at the Air Force Research Laboratory, focusing on applications for high-power microwave and directed energy. As for Adikhari, his background involved cybersecurity at a government contractor, according to Thurman.
“Initially, we started trying to make high-power microwave sources to replace linear accelerator magnetrons. That kind of tumbled into a traveling wave-tube amplifier repair contract with the Air Force,” Thurman said. “As a result, we got two contracts with the Air Force to repair these tubes. That let us out of the garage and into the office.
“From there, one of [Wood’s former interns] left to work for NASA, and before he left he started working on agricultural plasma applications. And so that sort of kicked off this whole vein of agricultural plasma.”
Thurman said Archer, located at 9670 Eagle Ranch Rd. NW, aims to raise between $1 million to $2 million. The money would be used — in part — to commercialize the plasma device, which will be leased out to clients.
