Complete and Robust Magnetic Field Confinement by Superconductors in Fusion Magnets

Abstract

The fusion created by magnetically confined plasma is a promising clean and essentially unlimited future energy source. However, net energy generation has not been yet demonstrated in fusion experiments. Some of the main problems hindering controlled fusion are the imperfect magnetic confinement and the associated plasma instabilities. Here, we theoretically demonstrate how to create a fully confined magnetic field with the precise three-dimensional shape required by fusion theory, using a bulk superconducting toroid with a toroidal cavity. The combination of the properties of superconductors with the toroidal topology makes the vacuum field in the cavity volume consisting of nested flux surfaces, a condition for optimum plasma confinement. The coils creating the field, embedded in the superconducting bulk, can be chosen with very simple shapes, in contrast with the cumbersome arrangements in current experiments, and can be spared from the large magnetic forces between them. Because the field shape in the cavity is given by the boundary conditions in the superconductor surface, the system will always tend to maintain the optimum field distribution in response to instabilities or turbulence in the plasma. This field shape is preserved even when holes are drilled in the superconductor to access the plasma region from the exterior. We demonstrate how a fully-confined magnetic field with the three-dimensional spatial distribution required in two of the most advanced stellarators, Large Helical Device and Wendelstein 7-X, can be exactly generated, using simple round coils as magnetic sources. We argue that state-of-the-art high-temperature superconductors already have the necessary properties to be employed to construct the bulk superconducting toroid. The present strategy can lead to optimized robust magnetic confinement and largely simplified configurations in future fusion experiments.