Plasma Boundary Physics

The PBP group investigates the region of the plasma that is in contact with plasma facing components.

Here it can erode material, which migrates through the plasma to be re-deposited on surfaces. Eroded and externally injected impurities as well as recycling neutrals of the fueling species influence the condition of the plasma boundary as well as the performance of the core plasma.

The studies of the group target a better physics understanding of the power and particle exhaust in the divertor, the material erosion processes down to the atomic level, impurity migration as well as flaking of dust particles.

The group develops and maintains diagnostics and simulation codes dedicated to these studies. Guided by experimental data, sophisticated two and three dimensional numerical codes are applied. These codes are used to interpret and predict the interplay of the complex processes that determine the behaviour of the plasma boundary for different tokamak devices.