Science Highlights | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

For the first time, researchers simultaneously achieved density above a historical empirical limit (>1.0) and very good confinement (~1.5) in a tokamak device.

Ground-Breaking Efforts Overcome an Operational Limit of Tokamaks, Advancing Efforts to Achieve Fusion Energy

By achieving very high density and confinement quality at the same time, researchers make new strides toward fusion energy.

The weight of antihydrogen atoms (a positively charged positron or anti-electron orbiting a negatively charged antiproton) balances the weight of hydrogen atoms (a negatively charged electron orbiting a positively charged proton).

Antihydrogen Falls Downward!

Settling a long-standing question, scientists have proven that antihydrogen falls downward in a first-ever direct experiment.

Negative triangularity shaping in the DIII-D tokamak (left) produced plasmas with no observed instabilities for triangularities less than approximately -0.15, even at high heating power and core performance (right).

Inverting Fusion Plasmas Improves Performance

Plasmas with negative triangularity show reduced gradients that develop into instabilities, including under conditions relevant to fusion power plants.

Using light from the edge of a plasma in a tokamak (interior view at left), a Physics Informed Neural Network reconstructs the turbulent fluctuations in plasma density and temperature and the distribution of a probing helium gas puff (right).

Bridging Theory and Fusion Experiments through Physics-Informed Deep Learning

Neural networks guided by physics are creating new ways to observe the complexities of plasmas.

Opening the Magnetic Bottle of a Tokamak Causes Particles to Rush Inward

Perturbing the edge magnetic field of a tokamak produces a counterintuitive response: particles entering the confined region rather than escaping it.

Researchers Visualize Energetic Ion Flow in Fusion Devices

For the first time, scientists successfully track energetic ion flow through space and energy driven by electromagnetic waves in fusion plasmas.

Islands That Move Together, Disrupt Together

Small rotating magnetic islands in tokamaks flowing at the same speed can couple together to cause disruptive islands that reduce plasma confinement.

Schematic of fast ions (black spirals) interacting with plasma waves (color) in a fusion experiment.

Collisions Change How Fast Ions Surf on Plasma Waves in Fusion Experiments and Beyond

Computation and simulations show that different types of collisions compete to determine the way energy is transferred between particles and plasma waves.

Quantum Error Correction Moves Beyond Breakeven

For the first time, the error correction process significantly enhances the lifetime of quantum information.

Quantum Error Correction Moves Beyond Breakeven

For the first time, the error correction process significantly enhances the lifetime of quantum information.

Fusion Simulations Reveal the Multi-Scale Nature of Tokamak Turbulence

Scientists use supercomputer simulations to understand the complex interplay between large-scale ion and small-scale electron plasma motion in determining fusion performance

Small Fusion Experiment Hits Temperatures Hotter than the Sun’s Core

National laboratory researchers partner with a private company to achieve 100-million-degree temperatures inside a high magnetic field spherical tokamak.