TY - JOUR
T1 - Filamentary plasma eruptions and their control on the route to fusion energy
AU - Ham, Christopher
AU - Kirk, Andrew
AU - Pamela, Stanislas
AU - Wilson, Howard
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - The tokamak is the most advanced approach to fusion and is approaching operation under power-plant conditions, promising sustainable, low-emission, baseload power to the grid. As the heating power of a tokamak is increased above a threshold, the plasma suddenly bifurcates to a state of high confinement, creating a region of plasma with a large pressure gradient at its edge. This bifurcation results in a repetitive sequence of explosive filamentary plasma eruptions called edge-localized modes (ELMs). ELMs on next-step tokamaks, such as ITER, will likely cause excessive erosion to plasma-facing components and must be controlled. We present what is understood about how ELMs form, their filamentary nature and the mechanisms that transport heat and particles to the first wall of the tokamak. We also discuss methods to control ELMs, including magnetic perturbations.
AB - The tokamak is the most advanced approach to fusion and is approaching operation under power-plant conditions, promising sustainable, low-emission, baseload power to the grid. As the heating power of a tokamak is increased above a threshold, the plasma suddenly bifurcates to a state of high confinement, creating a region of plasma with a large pressure gradient at its edge. This bifurcation results in a repetitive sequence of explosive filamentary plasma eruptions called edge-localized modes (ELMs). ELMs on next-step tokamaks, such as ITER, will likely cause excessive erosion to plasma-facing components and must be controlled. We present what is understood about how ELMs form, their filamentary nature and the mechanisms that transport heat and particles to the first wall of the tokamak. We also discuss methods to control ELMs, including magnetic perturbations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082490602&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s42254-019-0144-1
DO - 10.1038/s42254-019-0144-1
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85082490602
SN - 2522-5820
VL - 2
SP - 159
EP - 167
JO - Nature Reviews Physics
JF - Nature Reviews Physics
IS - 3
ER -