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Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of controlled fusion research, along with inertial confinement fusion .
In fusion power research, the Z-pinch (zeta pinch) is a type of plasma confinement system that uses an electric current in the plasma to generate a magnetic field that compresses it (see pinch). These systems were originally referred to simply as pinch or Bennett pinch (after Willard Harrison Bennett ), but the introduction of the θ-pinch ...
Like other magnetic confinement fusion experiments, NSTX studies the physics principles of thermonuclear plasmas—ionized gases with sufficiently high temperatures and densities for nuclear fusion to occur—which are confined in a magnetic field. The spherical tokamak design implemented by NSTX is an offshoot of the conventional tokamak ...
In magnetic confinement, the tendency of the hot plasma to expand is counteracted by the Lorentz force between currents in the plasma and magnetic fields produced by external coils. The particle densities tend to be in the range of 10 18 to 10 22 m −3 and the linear dimensions in the range of 0.1 to 10 m .
Magnetized target fusion (MTF) is a fusion power concept that combines features of magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Like the magnetic approach, the fusion fuel is confined at lower density by magnetic fields while it is heated into a plasma. As with the inertial approach, fusion is initiated by rapidly ...
The FRC was first observed in laboratories in the late 1950s during theta pinch experiments with a reversed background magnetic field. [3] The original idea was attributed to the Greek scientist and engineer Nicholas C. Christofilos who developed the concept of E-layers for the Astron fusion reactor.
In a plasma that is embedded in a magnetic field (known as a magnetized plasma) the fusion rate scales as the magnetic field strength to the 4th power. For this reason, many fusion companies that rely on magnetic fields to control their plasma are trying to develop high temperature superconducting devices.
A stellarator is a magnetic confinement fusion device that uses external magnetic coils to generate all of the magnetic fields needed to confine the high temperature plasma. In contrast, in tokamaks and reversed field pinches, the magnetic field is created by the interaction of external magnets and an electrical current flowing through the ...