Liquid metal research at the Center for Plasma–Material Interactions (CPMI) at the University of Illinois

The Center for Plasma-Material Interactions (CPMI) specializes in understanding the science behind the complex interactions between the plasma and the materials that plasma facing components are made from. CPMI is also known to be a leader in the development of liquid metal technologies as a plasma facing material, in particular liquid lithium. The lab’s capabilities range from initial implementation of concepts from modelling and theory to basic PFC design, implementation with test stands and prototypes. CPMI has a wide range of experimental facilities to measure parameters, test designs and perform controlled experiments and in-situ surface characterization. A major part of CPMI is a steady state toroidal plasma device, the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA), which has a material analysis test stand (HIDRA-MAT) with lithium capabilities. The Mock-up Entry Module for EAST (MEME) came out of a collaboration between CPMI and various US institutions with EAST at ASIPP in China. This program has tested full scale flowing liquid lithium plates in EAST and the MEME chamber came out of the collaboration to further future development of flowing liquid metal technologies and solving technical aspects such as loop and plate design. These facilities give the CPMI lab a unique ability to push the boundaries of liquid metal and PMI science, engineering and technology.