The new PUFFIN facility at MIT is designed to deliver an intense pulse of electrical current to the center of a vacuum chamber, where it heats thin metal wires to the plasma state. We take pictures of the plasma using laser beams to understand how plasmas and magnetic fields interact.
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Principal Investigator
Jack Hare
Gale (1929) Career Development Professor, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
Team
Jack Hare
Jack Hare
01
Abstract
The new PUFFIN facility at MIT is designed to deliver an intense pulse of electrical current to the center of a vacuum chamber, where it heats thin metal wires to the plasma state. We take pictures of the plasma using laser beams to understand how plasmas and magnetic fields interact.
Importance of research
Plasma makes up 99.9% of the visible matter in the Universe, and 100% of the matter in fusion reactor concepts here on Earth. Plasmas, made from charged electrons and ions, respond strongly to magnetic fields, which change how plasmas move and how they conduct heat. Detailed experiments on PUFFIN provide data to test theories and validate numerical simulations that can be used to explain the Universe we observe, and to design new fusion reactors.