Field-reversed configuration

A field-reversed configuration (FRC) is a type of <a href="/facts/Plasma_(physics)/1d3btMVU">plasma</a> device studied as a means of producing <a href="/facts/Nuclear_fusion/hP0gLDqj">nuclear fusion</a>. It confines a plasma on closed magnetic <a href="/facts/Field_line/Nxr20d47">field lines</a> without a central penetration. In an FRC, the plasma has the form of a self-stable torus, similar to a <a href="/facts/Smoke_ring/AoN2h221">smoke ring</a>.
FRCs are closely related to another self-stable <a href="/facts/Magnetic_confinement_fusion/ThThVDpr">magnetic confinement fusion</a> device, the <a href="/facts/Spheromak/1nSg4I4R">spheromak</a>. Both are considered part of the <a href="/facts/Compact_toroid/5rqwuNy9">compact toroid</a> class of fusion devices. FRCs normally have a plasma that is more elongated than spheromaks, having the overall shape of a hollowed out sausage rather than the roughly spherical spheromak.
FRCs were a major area of research in the 1960s and into the 1970s, but had problems scaling up into practical <a href="/facts/Fusion_triple_product/aPUrM8Tp">fusion triple products</a> (target combinations of density, temperature and confinement time). Interest returned in the 1990s and as of 2019<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Field-reversed_configuration&action=edit">[update]</a>, FRCs were an active research area.

Field-reversed configuration open-in-new

Field-reversed configuration