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Steady-State Plasma Heating Lab
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A lab that heats, measures, and controls fusion plasma with electromagnetic waves.
AboutAbout the lab
Controlling fusion plasma with electromagnetic waves
The Steady-State Plasma Heating Lab studies the physics and engineering of nuclear fusion using QUEST, Japan's largest spherical tokamak device.
Its work includes methods for heating plasma and sustaining current with electromagnetic waves, diagnostic techniques for measuring plasma conditions, and the development of components that handle high-power millimeter waves.
Much of the equipment needed for plasma research has to be built in-house, and the lab says that this allows members to build up knowledge, skills, and experience.
On the lab's website, the Steady-State Plasma Heating Lab and the Plasma Wave Science and Engineering Lab are introduced together under the name "Idei-Ikezoe Lab (IIlab)."
Key terms
- Tokamak
- A device that confines doughnut-shaped high-temperature plasma with magnetic fields. It is considered a promising approach for fusion reactors.
- Gyrotron
- An electron tube that emits high-power millimeter waves. It is used for plasma heating and for starting up current.
- Adaptive array methods
- A remote sensing technique that analyzes waves received by an array of antennas. It is also used in fields such as atmospheric and ocean science.
ResearchResearch themes
Centered on plasma wave physics and radio-frequency (RF) technology, the lab conducts broad research in fusion and plasma science. Using QUEST, it works on heating and controlling plasma with electromagnetic waves, developing diagnostic techniques, and studying the related plasma wave physics.
*Illustrative imageDiagnostics that probe plasma with electromagnetic waves
The lab investigates plasma conditions using electromagnetic wave phenomena such as refraction, reflection, and emission. To address the problem that values at the location of interest become hard to distinguish, it addresses this through analysis using phased array antennas and adaptive array methods.
*Illustrative imageStarting up plasma current with electromagnetic waves
The lab researches methods of starting up and sustaining plasma current with electromagnetic waves, without relying on an inductive electric field. It develops gyrotron tubes, and also converts waves into other types of waves within the plasma for use in heating and current drive.
*Illustrative imageControlling plasma with radio frequencies
Plasma control with radio-frequency and millimeter waves includes control of the electric potential (electric field) profile and stability control. Recently, the lab has mainly been developing components for high-power radio-frequency and millimeter waves needed for the beam shaping that such control requires.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of radio-frequency and millimeter-wave components
In transmitting high-power millimeter waves, it is important to shape the beam and couple it into the waveguide to avoid electrical breakdown and overheating. Through joint research, the lab is developing high-precision measurement of millimeter-wave phase and instruments that measure the modes propagating in waveguides.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Idei-Ikezoe Lab consist of faculty members, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and administrative staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorHiroshi Idei
- Associate ProfessorTatsuya Ikezoe
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “MAST side view ( )” Andy Busse / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Diagnostics that probe plasma with electromagnetic waves: “IPhO-de-2020R3 W7-X microwave diagnostics” I2ho7p / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Starting up plasma current with electromagnetic waves: “Gyrotron for electron cyclotron resonance heating of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator” Siarhei Besarab / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Controlling plasma with radio frequencies: “Filaments inside a plasma tube” Bravemimoza / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Development of radio-frequency and millimeter-wave components: “WaveguideJ-Band” Muraer / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Steady-State Plasma Science and Engineering Lab): “Demo stv” Patron974 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plasma Wave Science and Engineering Lab): “NASA magnetosphere plasma waves diagram” Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Boundary Plasma Experiment and Analysis Lab): “MSNW Fusion Rocket Prototype” Alan Boyle, GeekWire and MSNW Inc (now defunct). / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Steady-State Plasma Control Lab): “MAST bottom view ( )” Andy Busse / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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