Fusion Energy Sciences Research Articles

Science challenges and research opportunities for plasma applications in microelectronics

Low-temperature plasmas (LTPs) are essential to manufacturing devices in the semiconductor industry, from creating extreme ultraviolet photons used in the most advanced lithography to thin film etching, deposition, and surface modifications. It is estimated that 40%–45% of all process steps needed to manufacture semiconductor devices use LTPs in one form or another. LTPs have been an enabling technology in the multidecade progression of the shrinking of device dimensions, often referred to as Moore’s law. New challenges in circuit and device design, novel materials, and increasing demands to achieve environmentally benign processing technologies require advances in plasma technology beyond the current state-of-the-art. The Department of Energy Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences held a workshop titled Plasma Science for Microelectronics Nanofabrication in August 2022 to discuss the plasma science challenges and technical barriers that need to be overcome to continue to develop the innovative plasma technologies required to support and advance the semiconductor industry. One of the key outcomes of the workshop was identifying a set of priority research opportunities (PROs) to focus attention on the most strategic plasma science challenges to address to benefit the semiconductor industry. For each PRO, scientific challenges and recommended strategies to address those challenges were identified. This article summarizes the PROs identified by the workshop participants.

Cryogenic and safety design of the future high field cable test facility at Fermilab

The HFVMTF (High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility) is a new experimental facility under development at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) to test large superconducting magnets (up to 20 tons weight and 1.3 m diameter) in a double bath superfluid helium cryostat (1.9 K and 1.2 bar). Coupled with a superconducting dipole magnet fabricated by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), this facility will be able to test future high-temperature superconductor (HTS) cables under a background magnetic field of 15 T for fusion magnets. This paper describes the design of the cryostat and its 1.4-meter diameter lambda plate, as well as the different components for a safe operation of the facility, even during critical events such a magnet quench or a vacuum breaking situation. The project is funded by US DOE Offices of Science, High Energy Physics (HEP), and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES).

Investigation of boosted proton energies through proton radiography of target normal sheath acceleration fields in the multi-ps regime

Multi-kilojoule, multi-picosecond short-pulse lasers, such as the National Ignition Facility-Advanced Radiographic Capability laser and the OMEGA-Extended Performance laser, which have been constructed over the last two decades, enable exciting opportunities to produce high-brightness, high-energy laser-driven proton sources for applications in high-energy-density science like proton fast ignition for inertial fusion energy, particle radiography, and materials science studies. Results on these platforms have demonstrated enhanced accelerated proton energies and electron temperatures when compared to established scaling laws. Recent work has developed a new scaling for proton TNSA in the multi-ps regime. However, this new physics in the multi-ps regime motivates the need to understand the origin of the enhancement in proton energies. Toward this goal, this work presents the first measurements of the TNSA accelerating sheath field in the multi-ps regime for pulse durations of 0.6, 5, and 10 ps. This measurement was achieved by using a separate TNSA proton source to radiograph the spatiotemporal profile of the accelerating sheath that is responsible for proton acceleration. The use of stacked radiochromic film detectors allows for a discrete time profile of the radiographs, thus enabling the measurement of the temporal and spatial evolution of the accelerating field. In performing this measurement, we extract quantities such as the sheath strength as a function of time and pulse duration, which shows that longer pulse durations sustain a stronger electric field for a longer duration when compared to sub-ps laser pulses, which may enable the observed boosted proton energies and proton conversion efficiencies.

Status of the High Field Cable Test Facility at Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are building a new High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) for testing superconducting cables in high magnetic field. The background magnetic field of 15 T in the HFVMTF will be produced by a magnet provided by LBNL. The HFVMTF is jointly funded by the US DOE Offices of Science, High Energy Physics (HEP), and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), and will serve as a superconducting cable test facility in high magnetic fields and a wide range of temperatures for HEP and FES communities. This facility will also be used to test high-field superconducting magnet models and demonstrators, including hybrid magnets, produced by the US Magnet Development Program (MDP). The paper describes the status of the facility, including construction, cryostat designs, top and lambda plates, and systems for powering, and quench protection and monitoring.

A 50 kA Superconducting Transformer for the Upcoming High-Field High-Current Testing Station at the BNL

Brookhaven national laboratory is upgrading its exist-ing user facility to support R&D for High Energy Physics (HEP) and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). The goal of this upgrade is to host the testing of the superconducting cables, conductors, joints and insert coils under high magnetic field (10 T), with currents up to 50 kA (present limit 20 kA) and at temperatures varying from 4 K to 40 K. To provide a current up to 50 kA to the sample, a superconducting core-less transformer is under construction. The superconducting transformer would additionally reduce the heat loss at the current leads at high currents. The SC transformer consists of two coaxial coils. The primary coil is inside the secondary coil. The primary coil consists of 3048 turns of rectangular wires (1.91 mm × 1.27 mm), wound in 24 layers. The secondary coil consists of 13 turns of the secondary cable (18.35 mm × 5.96 mm), wound in one layer. The parameters of the transformer are chosen to satisfy the space re-strictions while using the available conductor. This paper presents the design of the 50-kA transformer.

Radiation-Resistant Electrical Insulation Materials for Superconducting Magnet Applications

To develop radiation-resistant electrical insulation materials suitable for cryogenic temperatures and applications that require radiation resistance such as future nuclear fusion energy systems, a United States Department of Energy Fusion Energy Sciences funded study was undertaken collaboratively by InnoSense LLC (ISL) and the Center for Advanced Power Systems. The goals for the new electrical insulation materials were low gas generation under irradiation, long pot life, high mechanical strength, good flexibility, and high dielectric strength. The development of proprietary metal oxide nanoparticle incorporated organic polymer composites (MOPOC) and their properties are reported. MOPOC consists of organic polyurethane (PU)-polyimide (PI) copolymers, ISL's proprietary and patented phenylated bipyridinium ionic polymers, and metal oxide nanoparticles. The results show the promise of the materials with the desired characteristics of mechanical, thermal, and pot life. Dielectric strength of 44 kV/mm and the suitability for cryogenic temperature application was demonstrated by room temperature and 77 K measurements. Preliminary gamma radiation exposure tests are promising. Further systematic investigations with larger doses on multiple compositions are planned in the next phase of the development with the extension of funding from the Department of Energy Fusion Energy Sciences and the established extended collaboration with the University of California Davis for neutron and proton beam exposure of the insulation samples.

Quantum computing for fusion energy science applications

This is a review of recent research exploring and extending present-day quantum computing capabilities for fusion energy science applications. We begin with a brief tutorial on both ideal and open quantum dynamics, universal quantum computation, and quantum algorithms. Then, we explore the topic of using quantum computers to simulate both linear and nonlinear dynamics in greater detail. Because quantum computers can only efficiently perform linear operations on the quantum state, it is challenging to perform nonlinear operations that are generically required to describe the nonlinear differential equations of interest. In this work, we extend previous results on embedding nonlinear systems within linear systems by explicitly deriving the connection between the Koopman evolution operator, the Perron–Frobenius evolution operator, and the Koopman–von Neumann evolution (KvN) operator. We also explicitly derive the connection between the Koopman and Carleman approaches to embedding. Extension of the KvN framework to the complex-analytic setting relevant to Carleman embedding, and the proof that different choices of complex analytic reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces depend on the choice of Hilbert space metric are covered in the appendixes. Finally, we conclude with a review of recent quantum hardware implementations of algorithms on present-day quantum hardware platforms that may one day be accelerated through Hamiltonian simulation. We discuss the simulation of toy models of wave–particle interactions through the simulation of quantum maps and of wave–wave interactions important in nonlinear plasma dynamics.

Design of the cryostat for High Field Vertical Magnet Testing Facility at Fermilab

High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) is a joint project between the Office of High Energy Physics (HEP) and the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). Its construction is currently under way at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). As a part of the project a new double bath superfluid helium cryostat has been designed. The cryostat can accommodate magnets with up to 20 tonne weight and 1.3 m diameter. This paper discusses challenges and solutions for cryostat, lambda plate and heat exchanger design, and presents results of performance analysis.

Low cost, simpler HTS cable conductors for fusion energy systems

The cost and complexity of large, high-field superconducting magnet modules and related subsystems comprise 30% to 60% of the fusion reactor core capital cost. The strategic plan for the U.S. burning plasma research, the Fusion Energy Sciences Committee Report (FESAC) “Power the Future: Fusion and Plasmas’', and 2021 NASEM report “Key Goals and Innovations needed for a U.S. Fusion Pilot Plant” recommends that the U.S. pursue innovative science and technology to enable construction of a Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP) that produces net electricity from fusion at reduced capital cost. To achieve this, a novel combination of lower-cost high temperature superconductors (HTS) in cable configurations with co-wound reinforcement for higher current density are being investigated using a simplified construction strategy to produce compact stable coils. They would be capable of generating 20 T at up to 10-20 K. Small-scale, inexpensive test coils and prototypes will help develop each feature and validate cabled conductor design models. The near term goal is to validate engineering approaches, scientific models and fabrication capabilities applicable to fusion reactor development such as U.S. fusion nuclear science facility (FNSF), sustained high-power density tokamak facility (SHPD) and FPP designs. The design options include lower-cost, high-strength, quench resistant REBCO or Bi-2212 cables in an all metal coil design that simplifies HTS coil construction and quench protection system, with co-wound reinforcements that integrate stress management in HTS cable design and provides thermal mass to help prevent quench damage.

Status of nuclear fusion energy science & technology for power production: progress & prospects

Energy release by nuclear fusion reactions was first proposed in the context of theories explaining the energy source of stellar objects. Subsequently, laboratory experiments in the 1930's demonstrated the validity of such reactions. From the 1940's onward, efforts began to pursue the controlled & uncontrolled release of nuclear fusion energy for both civilian & military applications. While the military aspect of this technology was proved in the early 1950's, the civilian part, which focused on inventing different techniques to fuse light elements nuclei to produce power, found little success. The main reason for this was undertaking expensive & complicated fusion experiments without fully resolving all the scientific issues regarding each concept. However, the decades – long delays in realizing fusion for power production caused some of these efforts to shift recently & noticeably to the commercial arena where a literal accountability of the progress of these projects is conducted. This status review paper gives a quick historical background on nuclear fusion science & technologies, explains briefly a few innovative nuclear fusion energy production methods with a focus on the rapidly growing commercial trend of nuclear fusion research and developments efforts.

Innovation for measuring the distribution function with nonextensive single electric probe

In the field of plasma diagnosis, the measurement of the distribution function is significant because the distribution function is the basis for the use of plasma kinetic theory and it is the prerequisite for analyzing many physical phenomena, such as Landau damping (wave-particle resonance phenomenon) and ion sheath. Theoretical analysis and a large number of experiments have proved that plasma components do not obey Boltzmann–Gibbs statistics and can be well described by nonextensive statistical mechanics. The field of nonextensive electric probe has also made great progress, and the invention of the nonextensive single electric probes has developed and strengthened the power of plasma diagnostics. The nonextensive electric probe can not only measure the electron nonextensive parameter of plasma that cannot be measured by traditional probes but can also measure more accurate plasma parameters that can also be measured by traditional probes, such as Te, Φp, ne, Φf, and αqFe. However, diagnosing the plasma distribution function by the nonextensive electric probe has not been thoroughly and systematically analyzed and discussed. Here, we show the measurement of the plasma distribution function with a nonextensive single electric probe. This work expands the diagnostic capabilities of the nonextensive single electric probe. We utilize the nonextensive single electric probe theory to analyze the experimental data points of the I–V curve, measure the plasma electron distribution function fvx, and display the distribution curve (figure f-vx), and we also measure the plasma parameters of qFe, Te, Φp, ne, Φf, αqFe, etc. The proposed method provides a new approach to the diagnosis of the plasma distribution function and contributes to a more accurate and comprehensive grasp of plasma, which creates better conditions for us to take advantage of plasma. These initial results illustrate the potential of the nonextensive electric probe in the field of plasma diagnosis and, more generally, in accelerating the progress of fusion-energy science and helping to understand complex physical systems.

Design and Construction of a High Field Cable Test Facility at Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, together with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is building a new High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) to be situated in the Magnet Test Facility at Fermilab. The HFVMTF is jointly funded by the US DOE Offices of Science, High Energy Physics, and Fusion Energy Sciences, and will serve as a superconducting cable test facility for both communities. The background magnetic field for test samples is 15 T and will be produced by a magnet provided by LBNL operating at 1.9 K in superfluid helium. The samples will be placed in the background magnetic field, cooled to between 4.5 K and a user-specified upper limit, and will be powered with a superconducting transformer at up to 100 kA. Additionally, this facility will be used to test high-field superconducting magnet models and demonstrators, including hybrid magnets, produced by the US Magnet Development Program. Currently, the various tasks of the project are at different stages of execution, from conceptual to ready-for-construction designs. This paper describes the parameters and design status of the pit construction, cryostat, heat exchanger, lambda plate, power system, and quench protection and monitoring systems of the facility.

Magnetic and Mechanical Analysis of a Large Aperture 15 T Cable Test Facility Dipole Magnet

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC), is funding a large bore “Cable Test Facility Magnet” for testing advanced cables and inserts in high transverse field. This is a joint effort between the Office of High Energy Physics (HEP) and the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). The background field magnet for this facility is being developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) while the cryostat and test facility will be located and operated by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). The Nb <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3 </sub> Sn dipole magnet, which will provide the transverse background field, is designed to generate a field of 15 T in a 100 × 150 mm bore at 1.9 K. The conceptual design of a block-type dipole with flared ends and a structure based on key-and-bladder technology will be introduced. The results of the magnetic and mechanical analysis will be presented.

FULLY CONVOLUTIONAL SPATIO-TEMPORAL MODELS FOR REPRESENTATION LEARNING IN PLASMA SCIENCE

We have trained a fully convolutional spatio-temporal model for fast and accurate representation learning in the challenging exemplar application area of fusion energy plasma science. The onset of major disruptions is a critically important fusion energy science issue that must be resolved for advanced tokamak plasmas such as the $25B burning plasma international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) experiment. While a variety of statistical methods have been used to address the problem of tokamak disruption prediction and control, recent approaches based on deep learning have proven particularly compelling. In the present paper, we introduce further improvements to the fusion recurrent neural network (FRNN) software suite, which delivered cross-machine disruption predictions with unprecedented accuracy using a large database of experimental signals from two major tokamaks. Up to now, FRNN was based on the long short-term memory (LSTM) variant of recurrent neural networks to leverage the temporal information in the data. Here, we implement and apply the "temporal convolutional neural network (TCN)" architecture to the time-dependent input signals. This allows highly optimized convolution operations to carry the majority of the computational load of training, thus enabling a reduction in training time, and the effective use of high-performance computing resources for hyperparameter tuning. At the same time, the TCN-based architecture achieves better predictive performance when compared with the LSTM architecture for various tasks for a representative fusion database.

Advancing Fusion with Machine Learning Research Needs Workshop Report

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) methods have been used successfully in recent years to solve problems in many areas, including image recognition, unsupervised and supervised classification, game-playing, system identification and prediction, and autonomous vehicle control. Data-driven machine learning methods have also been applied to fusion energy research for over 2 decades, including significant advances in the areas of disruption prediction, surrogate model generation, and experimental planning. The advent of powerful and dedicated computers specialized for large-scale parallel computation, as well as advances in statistical inference algorithms, have greatly enhanced the capabilities of these computational approaches to extract scientific knowledge and bridge gaps between theoretical models and practical implementations. Large-scale commercial success of various ML/AI applications in recent years, including robotics, industrial processes, online image recognition, financial system prediction, and autonomous vehicles, have further demonstrated the potential for data-driven methods to produce dramatic transformations in many fields. These advances, along with the urgency of need to bridge key gaps in knowledge for design and operation of reactors such as ITER, have driven planned expansion of efforts in ML/AI within the US government and around the world. The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science programs in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) and Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) have organized several activities to identify best strategies and approaches for applying ML/AI methods to fusion energy research. This paper describes the results of a joint FES/ASCR DOE-sponsored Research Needs Workshop on Advancing Fusion with Machine Learning, held April 30–May 2, 2019, in Gaithersburg, MD (full report available at https://science.osti.gov/-/media/fes/pdf/workshop-reports/FES_ASCR_Machine_Learning_Report.pdf). The workshop drew on broad representation from both FES and ASCR scientific communities, and identified seven Priority Research Opportunities (PRO’s) with high potential for advancing fusion energy. In addition to the PRO topics themselves, the workshop identified research guidelines to maximize the effectiveness of ML/AI methods in fusion energy science, which include focusing on uncertainty quantification, methods for quantifying regions of validity of models and algorithms, and applying highly integrated teams of ML/AI mathematicians, computer scientists, and fusion energy scientists with domain expertise in the relevant areas.

Perspectives on the FESAC transformative enabling capabilities: Priorities, plans, and Status

• Perspectives are given on recent efforts in the United States on the five “Transformative Enabling Capabilities” identified in a 2018 FESAC report. These areas are: • Advanced algorithms. • High-critical-temperature superconductors. • Advanced materials and manufacturing. • Novel technologies for tritium fuel cycle control. • Fast flowing liquid metal plasma-facing components. In early 2017, the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC), an advisory committee to the United States Department of Energy, was charged with identifying transformative enabling capabilities (TECs) “that could promote efficient advance toward fusion energy, building on burning plasma science and technology.” A subcommittee with broad expertise was formed and sought feedback from scientific experts, including experts from outside the fusion community. Three workshops were conducted, and a report was approved by FESAC in 2018 that identified four of the “most promising” TECs: advanced algorithms, high-critical-temperature superconductors, advanced materials and manufacturing, and novel technologies for tritium fuel cycle control. In addition, one “promising” TEC was identified: fast flowing liquid metal plasma-facing components. This paper will give details on the promising TECs and an overview on considerations of these TECs in the United States since the publication of the report.

Teaching and research of plasma/fluid mechanics to undergraduate students at a US university

We narrate our experiences of teaching plasma and fluid mechanics to undergraduate students at Bowie State University and Virgin Tech and comment on possible pathways for future improvements in plasma and fluid education in general. The areas mostly covered are fusion energy science and space sciences with major emphasis on numerical and computational aspects. Students also participated in activities at NASA-GSFC.

Ultrafast wave-particle energy transfer in the collapse of standing whistler waves.

Efficient energy transfer from electromagnetic waves to ions has been demanded to control laboratory plasmas for various applications and could be useful to understand the nature of space and astrophysical plasmas. However, there exists the severe unsolved problem that most of the wave energy is converted quickly to electrons but not to ions. Here, an energy-to-ion conversion process in overdense plasmas associated with whistler waves is investigated by numerical simulations and a theoretical model. Whistler waves propagating along a magnetic field in space and laboratories often form standing waves by the collision of counter-propagating waves or through the reflection. We find that ions in standing whistler waves acquire a large amount of energy directly from the waves over a short time scale comparable to the wave oscillation period. The thermalized ion temperature increases in proportion to the square of the wave amplitude and becomes much higher than the electron temperature in a wide range of wave-plasma conditions. This efficient ion-heating mechanism applies to various plasma phenomena in space physics and fusion energy sciences.

DIII-D research towards establishing the scientific basis for future fusion reactors

DIII-D research is addressing critical challenges in preparation for ITER and the next generation of fusion devices through focusing on plasma physics fundamentals that underpin key fusion goals, understanding the interaction of disparate core and boundary plasma physics, and developing integrated scenarios for achieving high performance fusion regimes. Fundamental investigations into fusion energy science find that anomalous dissipation of runaway electrons (RE) that arise following a disruption is likely due to interactions with RE-driven kinetic instabilities, some of which have been directly observed, opening a new avenue for RE energy dissipation using naturally excited waves. Dimensionless parameter scaling of intrinsic rotation and gyrokinetic simulations give a predicted ITER rotation profile with significant turbulence stabilization. Coherence imaging spectroscopy confirms near sonic flow throughout the divertor towards the target, which may account for the convection-dominated parallel heat flux. Core-boundary integration studies show that the small angle slot divertor achieves detachment at lower density and extends plasma cooling across the divertor target plate, which is essential for controlling heat flux and erosion. The Super H-mode regime has been extended to high plasma current (2.0 MA) and density to achieve very high pedestal pressures (~30 kPa) and stored energy (3.2 MJ) with H98y2 ≈ 1.6–2.4. In scenario work, the ITER baseline Q = 10 scenario with zero injected torque is found to have a fusion gain metric independent of current between q95 = 2.8–3.7, and a lower limit of pedestal rotation for RMP ELM suppression has been found. In the wide pedestal QH-mode regime that exhibits improved performance and no ELMs, the start-up counter torque has been eliminated so that the entire discharge uses ≈0 injected torque and the operating space is more ITER-relevant. Finally, the high- (⩽3.8) hybrid scenario has been extended to the high-density levels necessary for radiating divertor operation, achieving ~40% divertor heat flux reduction using either argon or neon with Ptot up to 15 MW.

Fusion Energy: Research at the Crossroads

Martin Greenwald has worked in the field of magnetic fusion energy for more than 40 years. He is the Deputy Director of MIT’s Plasma Science & Fusion Center and a cofounder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a recent startup. Dr. Greenwald’s research has focused on the turbulent transport of energy in magnetically confined plasmas. He led a research team that was the first to exceed the Lawson’s criteria for density-confinement product—a key fusion goal. He is also the past chairman of the federal advisory committee for fusion energy sciences.