Developing a compact field-reversed configuration device with RF antennas and microwave

Scheduled to be operational in late 2025, a small scale field-reversed configuration (FRC) device is currently in development. The device is about 2 m in length, with the main chamber diameter of 0.4 m. The main vacuum chamber is outfitted with ten electromagnetic coils, each connected with independent DC power supplies delivering up to 30V, 60 A. Surrounding the chamber are impedance-matching units that is connected to an AC power supply, which can deliver an output of 150 A/coil at 80–100 kHz to the RF coils for current drive. In addition, the device have four 3 kW, 2.45 GHz microwave head units attached for pre-ionization. A comprehensive diagnostic suite is being installed that includes Hall probes for magnetic field measurement, a mid-plane Langmuir probe, magnetic flux loops, and a millimeter-wave interferometer to measure the line-averaged plasma density. Initial plasma experiments will be conducted with argon gas, mostly focusing on the operational stability of the device and validating diagnostics. This compact field-reversed configuration device is expected to serve as a flexible open-system testbed for exploring advanced plasma confinement and current drive techniques.