Experimental and Theoretical Progress on Beam-Driven FRCs in the C-2W device

TAE Technologies is advancing a novel pathway to magnetic confinement fusion based on high-beta, beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas [1]. The C-2W device has demonstrated sustained operation with high fast-ion beta and low collisionality regimes, achieving lifetimes exceeding hundreds of Alfven transit times and accessing new performance regimes with elevated ion temperatures and thermal energy. Experiments have produced fully-formed FRCs via energetic neutral beam injection, offering a simplified architecture free of theta-pinch formation coils and a direct path toward steady-state, reactor relevant conditions [2]. Recent programmatic advancements include increased neutral beam power injection, real-time feedback control of edge biasing and magnetic topology [3], as well as successful deployment of new core fueling systems: a high-reliability pellet injection system and a multi-specie compact toroid injector, both designed to support sustained high-density operation. Auxiliary heating capabilities are expanding with the deployment of a prototype electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system and development of an ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) system to enhance power coupling to the open field-line plasma via tailored wave-particle interactions. Spectroscopic and magnetic diagnostics have identified signatures of energetic particle modes (EPMs) driven by fast-ion resonances, and evidence of enhanced thermal ion heating via direct wave-particle coupling that bypasses the electron channel. On the theoretical front, the integration of core and edge physics, including mirror-confined scrape-off layer (SOL) and tenuous halo plasma, into large-scale simulations using WarpX enables detailed modeling of stability, heating, and confinement. This poster presents an overview of recent experimental and theoretical progress on C-2W, emphasizing innovations in plasma sustainment, core fueling, auxiliary heating, and fast-ion physics, while establishing a foundation for next-generation FRC-based fusion reactors.

[1] H. Gota et al., Nucl. Fusion 64, 112014 (2024); [2] T. Roche et al., Nat. Commun. 16, 3487 (2025); [3] J. A. Romero et al., Nat. Machine Intelligence (submitted, 2025); [4] R. E. Groenewald et al., Physics of Plasmas 32, 072503 (2025)