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Contents From the Director.................................................... 1 Alcator C-Mod............................................................ 6 Physics Research....................................................14 High-Energy-Density Physics.........................24 Waves and Beams.................................................28 Fusion Technology...............................................32 Educational Outreach.........................................36 Appointments, Awards, Activities................40 PSFC Progress Report 09–11 1
From the Director MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center carries out a broad research program in the study of plasmas, fusion science and technology. Plasmas (ionized gas) are a rich area of basic and applied research. The PSFC seeks to provide research and educational op portunities for expanding the scientific under standing of the physics of plasmas, the “fourth state of matter,” and to use that knowledge to develop useful applications, in particular fusion energy. The study of plasmas relevant to fusion power is the major focus of the PSFC research program. Thermonuclear fusion occurs naturally in the sun and other stars, releasing the energy that keeps them “burning.” The plasma that makes up a star is held together by gravity because of the star’s enormous mass. In laboratory devices, magnetic fields may be used to confine the hot plasma (in particular deuterium and tritium – isotopes of hydrogen) long enough for fusion reactions to produce net energy economically. Plasmas in magnetic confinement devices are usually heated by energetic particle beams, high-power radio-frequency waves or microwaves. Most successful magnetic confinement devices use a plasma in the shape of a “torus” (a doughnut shape), which prevents the particles following the magnetic field lines from escaping the plasma. The most advanced of these toroidal configurations is called the “tokamak,” an acronym of the Russian words for “toroidal magnetic chamber.” Another leading candidate for toroidal confinement is called a stellarator, pioneered in the US in the 1960s, but presently pursued most significantly in experiments in Japan and Germany. PSFC scientists have made a significant theoretical effort to better understand confinement of hot plasma in the stellarator geometry. The PSFC research activities include exploration of not only magnetically confined plasmas, but also high-energy-density, inertially confined plasmas, through collaborations with the OMEGA laser facility at the University of Rochester and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In these experimental facilities, powerful laser beams are used to compress and heat solid pellets of deuterium and tritium (DT reactions), or special capsules called “hohlraum” filled with DT gas, to achieve “inertial fusion” for short time durations. In an economical fusion power plant such reactions would have 2 PSFC Progress Report 09–11
Page 1 and 2: Plasma Science & Fusion Center Prog
Page 6 and 7: to be repeated approximately 10 tim
Page 8 and 9: PSFC Progress Report 09-11 5
Page 10 and 11: Background The Alcator C-Mod tokama
Page 12 and 13: Graduate students gather on the lan
Page 14 and 15: current to toroidal magnetic field
Page 16 and 17: perpendicular to the total edge mag
Page 18 and 19: Background The Physics Research Div
Page 20 and 21: Paul Bonoli is the Principal Invest
Page 22 and 23: experiments when funding of the pro
Page 24 and 25: spatial variations. Similarly, in t
Page 28 and 29: Background The High-Energy-Density
Page 30 and 31: Two proton spectrometers measured t
Page 32 and 33: Background The Waves and Beams Divi
Page 36 and 37: Background The Fusion Technology an
Page 38 and 39: developed a new cabling approach to
Page 40 and 41: Background The Plasma Science and F
Page 42 and 43: plasma science. Like Dr. Temkin, Pa
Page 44 and 45: during the crucial early career yea
Page 46 and 47: The Plasma Science and Fusion Cente

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