Research
Research
- Plasma heating
To achieve fusion, very high temperatures are needed (typically in excess of 100 million degrees). At those high temperatures the constitutents of the neutral atoms (ion and electrons) are no longer bound together and they form a “plasma”. Several methods exist to increase the temperature of the plasma. One method uses electromagnetic power with a frequency in the range of the frequency with which the ions gyrate in the magnetic field that confines the plasma. The research concentrates on this heating method (also called ICRF - for Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency) its physics aspects as well as technological aspects.
Probability theory and machine learning methods have a major role to play in plasma control and plasma diagnosis, in increasing the understanding of the physics of magnetized fusion plasmas and in designing new fusion machines. Read more...
- First wall materials and plasma-wall interaction
The material in which the plasma is contained, is subjected to high particle fluxes, high energy fluxes and, in the case of successful fusion reactions, high neutron fluxes. Those are extreme conditions for materials. The research investigates how to choose the appropriate materials and to optimise their behaviour.