Upping the power triggers an ordered helical plasma

Experiments in RFP fusion device show higher currents lead to self-organized helical plasma

		IMAGE: The RFX-mod Reversed Field Pinch (RFP) experiment has shown that higher currents lead to self-organized helical plasmas. Click here for more information.

If you keep twisting a straight elastic string, at some moment it starts kinking in a wild way. Something similar occurs when one increases the electrical current flowing in a magnetized plasma doughnut: it takes on a wild helical shape, which spoils its performance. This phenomenon concerns scientists exploring fusion power, who use powerful magnetic fields to confine plasma during their experiments.