Plasma–Wall Interaction
The complex physics where the plasma edge meets solid surfaces.
- Scope
- Edge meets material
Plasma–wall interaction covers everything that happens where plasma meets material: heat and particle deposition, sputtering, recycling, redeposition and fuel retention. It links plasma physics to material lifetime and is one of fusion's toughest coupled problems.
The burner's linear, low-neutron design gives it a gentler version of this problem.
Common questions
The exchange of particles and heat between the plasma edge and the wall — erosion, redeposition, fuel retention and recycling — which governs wall lifetime and plasma purity.
Because it sets how long plasma-facing components last and how clean the core stays, driving the choice of tungsten armour and the divertor's radiated-fraction strategy.