Major research effort at DIII-D quantifies 17-different materials for use in fusion reactors and shows viability of tungsten architectures, ultra-high temperature ceramics, and liquid lithium. Jonathan Coburn, et al., Nuclear Materials and Energy 46, 102064 (2026)
Completing a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering with an experimental fusion energy project is an incredible achievement. UT Knoxville tells of Jeremy Mateja’s experiments at d3dfusion.org exploring how eroded wall materials can be removed from fusion reactors.
New fusion energy research from d3dfusion.org shows how integrated modeling accurately reproduces plasma behavior. This improves simpler methods that overestimate fusion power output. R.S. Wilcox, et al., Nucl. Fusion 66, 036005 (2026), https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ae3845
At DIII-D we inject microwaves (< 200 GHz) to heat and drive current in our fusion plasmas. We’ve unboxed our newest 1 MW microwave unit, a gyrotron named Zapdos, and are excited to bring it online. This unit will extend our plasma parameter range deeper into reactor territory.
Experiments at DIII-D determine the drivers for a plasma mode that regulates pressure in the far edge. When far edge pressure gets too high, fusion plasmas tend to expel large bursts of hot particles that will definitely cause wall damage in a reactor.
DIII-D announces the call for experimental proposals for the next Research Campaign. Whether you work in plasma science, engineering, data science, or anything else in fusion energy, we are here to help you discover & advance.