Tag: fusion energy

SLAC researchers uncover copper’s surprising melting behavior at extreme temperatures

SLAC researchers uncover copper’s surprising melting behavior at extreme temperatures

Finding provides insights into design for heat-resistant fusion chamber.

Key takeaways:
  • Researchers used SLAC’s electron camera to watch copper atoms melt in real time. 
  • The team uncovered a key parameter that allowed the copper’s crystal lattice to deteriorate slowly instead of collapsing as predicted. 
  • By combining imaging with molecular dynamics simulations, researchers hope to uncover promising materials for fusion energy. 

Future fusion power plants aim to recreate the heart of a star here on Earth to power our future energy needs. While the core fusion plasma will burn at hundreds of millions of degrees, the surrounding structural components must handle sudden, punishing heat loads that rival the extreme temperatures faced by spacecraft upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Copper and its alloys are primary candidates for handling these intense heat fluctuations, making it vital to understand exactly how the metal behaves when pushed to its melting point. 

Now researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and collaborators have captured an exquisitely detailed, step-by-step look at copper atoms as they underwent extreme thermal heating. Published in Nature Communications, the results revealed a key parameter that allowed copper’s crystal lattice to melt steadily, rather than collapse instantaneously as earlier simulations predicted. 

Read more on the SLAC website

Tailwind for fusion research in Germany

Tailwind for fusion research in Germany

High-Tech Agenda Germany to strengthen fusion-related research. European XFEL will be a vital partner.

With the High-Tech Agenda Germany, the German government has set the course for the advancement of fusion-related research in Germany. The action plan ‘Germany on the way towards a fusion power plant’ defines measures to build the world’s first fusion power plant in Germany.

Nuclear fusion, as it takes place in the sun, promises an almost inexhaustible source of energy. At its core, it involves the fusion of lighter atoms such as hydrogen, deuterium and tritium into heavier atoms such as helium. This produces huge amounts of energy, which is to be harvested in a power plant.

The world’s largest X-ray laser, the European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg, is predestined for investigating fundamental processes of fusion. In particular, researchers at European XFEL want to contribute to investigating the critical early phases of fusion-related reactions. Its instruments are equipped with powerful lasers that generate the very high energy densities required to create plasma, an extremely hot state of matter. Using the extremely short and intense X-ray laser flashes of the European XFEL, the researchers would be able to analyse the reactions taking place step by step. This would provide extremely detailed images of the inside of fusion experiments, right down to the atomic level.

“With our X-ray laser, we can precisely investigate how fusion-related processes take place,” explains Prof Thomas Feurer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Management Board of European XFEL. “This enables researchers to better understand the complex processes and better predict the conditions under which a fusion reaction begins and how it can be optimised.”

“The European XFEL was built with a future-proof design, enabling it to continuously expand its capabilities to meet emerging scientific challenges,” so Feurer. “This forward-looking approach positions us to contribute within a short time to the next level of fusion research.”

Read more on the European XFEL website

Image: Thomas Feurer giving an outlook on how the world’s largest X-ray laser can significantly support research in the field of fusion energy

Credit: European XFEL