-- RamonaValenzuelaPerez - 2013-04-13

FIU Experimental Plasma Physics (FEPP) Research Group

Current Project

Our instrument, or diagnostic, will allow us to study plasma instabilities like Alfven eigenmodes. Studying and understanding plasma instabilities will lead to controlling instabilities which can deteriorate plasma performance. Plasma performance is a concern because stable plasmas are necessary to create commercially viable fusion energy.

Spherical tokamaks are machines that can create and confine a plasma to sustain the nuclear fusion reactions we want to study. However because these machines are too large and expensive to build with a small group of people, working with plasmas to study fusion can be a highly collaborative effort. Though we design, develop, and bench test our instruments at FIU, we will be collecting our data offsite at a spherical tokamak in England.

We are currently designing a four channel prototype instrument (an array of four detectors) to determine the time dependent charged fusion product profile of a spherical tokamak. In general, we want to know where and when charged particles from fusion reactions are created inside of a fusion plasma, where the plasma is contained inside of the tokamak. We will look for protons and tritons (isotopes of hydrogen) which are products from fusion reactions between deuterium (another hydrogen isotope).

• Please visit our TWiki page for our Charged Fusion Products Diagnostic, also called the Proton Detector:
  • http://phy.fiu.edu/twiki/bin/view/TWiki/MAST_Diagnostic
• More information:
  • Conference Proceeding
    • http://rsi.aip.org/resource/1/rsinak/v81/i10/p10D301_s1?isAuthorized=no
  • http://phy.fiu.edu/twiki/pub/TWiki/Proposal/FIU_UGS_Proposal.pdf

ABOVE: 3D CAD image of an exploded view of the detector housing unit/ probe head diagnostic, also called the Proton Detector

LEFT: Werner next to the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) RIGHT: Ramona next to MAST

FIU Group Members

Principal Investigator (PI):

• Werner Boeglin

Graduate Student:

• Ramona V Perez

Undergraduate Students:

• Adrianna Angulo
• Carlos Lopez
• Omar Leon
• Pierre Avila

Collaborators:

• Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) located in Princeton, New Jersey
• Culham Science Centre, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) located in Culham, Oxfordshire, England

LEFT: Pierre, our collaborator Bob Kaita (PPPL), Carlos RIGHT: Carlos, Omar, Pierre, our collaborator Doug Darrow (PPPL)

ABOVE: Daniel Andruczyk (PPPL), our collaborator Lane Roquemore (PPPL), Pierre, Omar, and Carlos

Research Opportunities

Research Facilities:

• FIU Physics Laboratory CP185
• National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at the PPPL http://nstx.pppl.gov/overview.html
• National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) at the PPPL (upgrade not yet completed)
• Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) at the CCFE http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/MAST.aspx

Undergraduate Research:

• Independent Study credits
• Undergraduate Research Experience
• Read about what our undergraduate researchers are doing

Graduate Research:

• M.S. and Ph.D opportunities (speak with Dr. Werner Boeglin http://physics.fiu.edu/faculty/)
• Read about what our graduate student is doing
• What kind of research experience can you gain working in FEPP?

LEFT: Ultra High Vacuum system for bench testing RIGHT: Stainless steel housing unit for detectors (for diagnostic to be installed in MAST)

Past Projects

3-D reconstruction of dust particle trajectories in the NSTX

• http://www.astro.sunysb.edu/rpatel/files/Rahul%20Patel%20McNair%20Poster.pdf
• http://www.astro.sunysb.edu/rpatel/files/sdarticle.pdf

The original Charged Fusion Products Diagnostic that would have been installed in NSTX (there was a premature shutdown of NSTX for its upgrade):

• http://phy.fiu.edu/twiki/pub/Main/DesignReview/Design_Review_Apr_2011.pdf
• http://phy.fiu.edu/twiki/pub/Main/DesignReview/Design_Details_Apr_2011_1.pdf
• http://phy.fiu.edu/twiki/bin/view/TWiki/NSTX_Diagnositc

LEFT AND RIGHT: Images of 3D cad drawings for detector housing/ probe head with the ability to change detector orientations