Charged Particle Beam Injection into Magnetically Confined Plasmas

Abstract

As the principles underpinning magnetic confinement are contrary to allowing significant heat flow via charged particles into or out of a magnetically confined plasma, the approach of charged particle beam injection has been largely overlooked. The method of magnetic orbital angular momentum beam acceleration, developed by the PTOLEMY experiment, provides a new avenue for injecting charged particle beams into high magnetic field regions. Initial simulations show how this novel acceleration method can yield charge, mass, and heat flow into toroidal magnetic fields with important implications for fusion energy science. This chapter will review this new method in the context of charged particle beam injection methods and the relevance of these tools for plasma and fusion science.