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As hot as it gets

Nature Physics volume 12, pages 14–17 (2016)Cite this article

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Sustaining and measuring high temperatures in fusion plasmas is a challenging task that requires different heating systems and diagnostic tools. Information on the spatial distribution of temperature is one of the key elements for improving and controlling plasma performance.

In the Sun — and other stars — energy is produced as a by-product of fusion reactions converting hydrogen into helium. A figure of merit for this process is the 'reactivity', which is the product of the reaction probability and the energy delivered per reaction. The overall reaction probability of fusion in the Sun is extremely low, but nevertheless sufficient to generate an energy stream of around 1024 kW because the particles participating in the Sun's fusion processes are held together strongly enough by gravity for reactions to occur. In the core of the Sun, the temperature is 10–15 million °C. Together with the extreme pressure (a quarter of a trillion atmospheres) and densities (around 5 × 1031 electrons per m3 and a mass density of around 160 g per cm3 — eight times that of gold), this allows matter to be converted into large amounts of energy.

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Figure 1: Schematic of a tokamak.

© EUROFUSION

Figure 2: Different sources of heating in a tokamak.
Figure 3: Temperature profile measurements obtained with different methods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Didier Mazon, Christel Fenzi and Roland Sabot are at the Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion par Confinement Magnétique, CEA Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul-lez-Durance, France,

    Didier Mazon, Christel Fenzi & Roland Sabot

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  1. Didier Mazon
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  2. Christel Fenzi
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  3. Roland Sabot
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Correspondence to Didier Mazon, Christel Fenzi or Roland Sabot.

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Mazon, D., Fenzi, C. & Sabot, R. As hot as it gets. Nature Phys 12, 14–17 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3625

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