The video of the CMFX group posted on the APS TV Youtube channel featured at the 2024 APS March meeting.

This research effort is a collaboration between the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

Team Members

Lead Principal Investigator - Carlos  A. Romero-Talamás (UMBC)
UMD Subaward Principal Investigator - Brian Beaudoin (UMD)
Co-Principal Investigators - Adil B. Hassam (UMD), Tim Koeth (UMD)

Postdoctoral Research Associate - Artur Perevalov
Graduate Students:  Nathan Eshbach, Nick Scwartz, Zachary Short, Willow Morrissey

Students from UMBC, affiliated with the CMFX project (but hired through separate projects at UMBC)
Ethan Bowers (Graduate Student: Bitter electromagnet development, dusty plasmas, centrifugal plasmas for materials testing)
Natalija Marin (Graduate Student: Fusion propulsion nozzle development, helicity space magnetic compressor, plasma diagnostics)

Pascal Conroy, Undergraduate Student, UMD
Justin James, Undergraduate Student, UMD

Research Focus

The Centrifugal Mirror is a magnetized plasma in mirror configuration that is put into azimuthal rotation by imposition of a radial electric field that sets up an ExB flow. The plasma feels a radially outward centrifugal force, which has a component parallel to the B field that confines the plasma to the midplane. The associated velocity shear stabilizes large and small scale instability. The configuration can in principle confine high temperature plasma at fusion conditions to allow net energy gain from fusion products. The CMFX (Centrifugal Mirror Fusion Experiment) will test this concept by running experiments operating at intermediate fusion conditions, as proof of principle.

Support

Funded by the ARPA-E-BETHE programme (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/technologies/programs/bethe).

Principal Investigator

Carlos Romero-Talamas Visiting Associate Professor 410-455-8049 | romero@umd.edu, romero@umbc.edu Profile