Tungsten-copper composite materials for plasma-facing components
E2M scientist Alexander von Müller received the 2019 Innovation Award of the German Copper Institute for his work regarding tungsten-copper composites.
The realisation of a reliable power exhaust solution is a central challenge in the design of a future fusion reactor. In this regard, the so-called divertor targets play an important role as these plasma-facing components have to sustain intense particle and heat fluxes as well as considerable neutron irradiation. This in turn means that the design of such components has to rely on innovative robust high-performance materials. Metallic composite materials are a current research topic to enhance the performance of plasma-facing components. Since several years, in the working group Plasma-Component Interaction of the scientific division E2M such materials are being developed and investigated. For his work in this field, E2M scientist Alexander von Müller received the 2019 Innovation Award of the German Copper Institute for his work regarding tungsten-copper composites. The annual Innovation Award of the German Copper Institute is a funding competition for students, doctoral students and scientific staff from all areas of engineering and natural science in research and industry. The submitted proposals are evaluated by independent jurors from the copper processing industry and academia. Alexander von Müller received the 2500 Euro award on 21 November 2019 at the Copper Symposium in Dresden.