Magneto-inertial fusion: A new approach towards fusion energy

Abstract

Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF) are two typical approaches of controlled fusion. The energy gain of magnetic confinement fusion achieved unity already, and inertial confinement fusion also made a big progress recently. However, the parameter spaces of two methods are different with 11 magnitudes, and their facilities are very large with fancy cost. Magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) combines both features of MCF and ICF, whose parameter space intermediates between the two extremes of MCF and ICF. The capital cost of MIF is much lower than either of the two, and it has large potential for commercial applications. With advantages of low cost, compact facility, and short time of construction, MIF draws more and more attention recently. In this paper, the status and recent progress of MIF research will be introduced. magneto inertial fusion, magnetized target fusion, field reversed configuration