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Plasma Physics Lab
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A lab that explores how to start up a fusion plasma using microwaves alone.
AboutAbout the lab
Demonstrating the microwave spherical tokamak concept.
The Plasma Physics Lab studies plasma toward the realization of fusion power reactors, which are expected to be a next-generation energy source.
In future reactors, eliminating or slimming down the central solenoid coil is considered key, which requires another way to start up the plasma current from zero.
Using its experimental device LATE, the lab became the first in the world to carry out everything from plasma ignition to the formation of a spherical tokamak using microwaves alone.
The lab belongs to the Graduate School of Energy Science, and students join at the graduate level.
Key terms
- Spherical tokamak
- Among tokamaks, which confine plasma with a doughnut-shaped magnetic field, one with a small central hole and a nearly spherical shape
- Central solenoid coil
- A coil placed at the center of a tokamak, which drives current in the plasma by electromagnetic induction
- Electron cyclotron resonance heating
- A method of heating plasma by applying microwaves at the same frequency as the rotation of electrons gyrating in a magnetic field, giving the electrons energy
ResearchResearch themes
Fusion power, which emits no carbon dioxide, is expected to be a next-generation energy source, and after ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, research and development continues with the demonstration plant DEMO and commercial power reactors. The lab works to establish a method, needed for that research and development, of starting up plasma current from zero without a central solenoid coil.
Research on the Microwave Spherical Tokamak
On the LATE device, the lab was the first in the world to carry out everything from ignition and current start-up to spherical tokamak formation using microwaves alone, through electron cyclotron resonance heating. To develop this approach further, it investigates heating, transport, and equilibrium characteristics.
How a Spherical Tokamak Forms
When microwaves are injected, current begins to flow from a helical plasma, which then changes into a closed magnetic field configuration. The lab investigates the complex interplay of fast electrons, current, and magnetic field that governs this process through magnetic, optical, microwave-band, and X-ray measurements, aiming to build a theoretical model usable for reactors.
Equilibrium of Toroidal ECR Plasmas
In vertically elongated plasmas produced with weak microwaves, a potential structure appears naturally and maintains equilibrium. Through detailed electrostatic probe measurements, the lab showed for the first time that plasma production and heating and the maintenance of equilibrium are formed automatically and self-consistently, and it is conducting experiments toward building a theoretical model.
Development of a Heavy Ion Beam Probe
Because the interior of a hot spherical tokamak cannot be measured with electrostatic probes, the lab is developing a heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) to measure the potential structure inside the plasma. The method determines the potential without disturbing the plasma, from the change in energy when ions injected from outside are ionized in the plasma.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Plasma Physics Lab consist of faculty and master's students.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorMasaki Uchida
- Assistant ProfessorAkane Nakai
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