Plasma fusion as a research area investigates the conditions and processes required to achieve controlled thermonuclear fusion in ionized gases, focusing on confinement, stability, heating, and transport phenomena in high-temperature plasmas. It encompasses magnetic confinement (e.g., tokamaks, stellarators), inertial confinement (laser- or particle-beam driven), and alternative concepts, integrating plasma physics, nuclear physics, materials science, and advanced diagnostics. Key objectives include understanding turbulence, instabilities, and non-linear interactions that govern energy and particle confinement, optimizing reactor-relevant regimes such as H-mode, and developing predictive models to guide the design of fusion devices aimed at net energy gain and ultimately practical fusion power production.
Scientists from the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) led experiments to demonstrate an effective "spark plug" for direct-drive methods of inertial confinement fusion (ICF). In two studies published ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 5, 2024
3
365
Fusion energy is being developed as a solution to global energy problems. In particular, the magnetic confinement method, in which ultra-high temperature plasma is confined by a magnetic field, is the most advanced and is ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 26, 2024
0
301
Emerging research suggests it may be easier to use fusion as a power source if liquid lithium is applied to the internal walls of the device housing the fusion plasma.
Plasma Physics
Jan 23, 2024
5
4825
In a burning plasma, maintaining confinement of fusion-produced energetic ions is essential to producing energy. These fusion plasmas host a wide array of electromagnetic waves that can push energetic ions out of the plasma.
Plasma Physics
Jan 16, 2024
5
207
A team led by Prof. Lyu Bo and Dr. Bae Cheonho from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new code to analyze the multi-fluid plasma rotation and transport properties ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 4, 2024
0
176
The Korean artificial sun, KSTAR, has completed divertor upgrades, allowing it to operate for extended periods sustaining high-temperature plasma over 100 million degrees.
Plasma Physics
Dec 29, 2023
0
187
