Please use the links below to explore the on and off-campus facilities utilized by Columbia researchers.
Research Facilities
High-Beta Tokamak - Extended Pulse (HBT-EP)
The on-campus, student-run tokamak at Columbia University, exploring the control of magneto-hydrodynamic instabilities in plasmas.
Columbia Stellarator eXperiment (CSX)
The Columbia Stellarator eXperiment (CSX) is a small stellarator at the Columbia Plasma Physics Laboratory (Columbia University) designed to explore optimized magnetic geometries using superconducting magnets.
Collisionless Terella Experiment (CTX)
A small on-campus experiment designed to understand the basic principles of collisionless transport of energetic plasma in planetary magnetospheres and to identify mechanisms causing charged particle energization and flux modulations
Columbia University Tokamak for Education (CUTE)
A small low-aspect ratio tokamak being commissioned to explore plasma control and pulse design in an education-focused program.
Fusion Technology
Columbia on-campus work is exploring novel technologies to advance fusion energy sciences. A first project is the investigation of cryogenic matter (`pellet') injection into high energy plasmas and particle beams.
DIII-D National Fusion Facility
DIII-D, the largest magnetic fusion user facility in the U.S., is a tokamak confinement device with significant engineering flexibility to explore the optimization of the advanced tokamak approach to fusion energy production.
National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U)
The NSTX-U is a magnetic confinement fusion facility employing a spherical torus confinement configuration to explore the potential stability and confinement advantages of this compact tokamak concept.
International Tokamaks
Fusion energy research is a highly international activity, offering opportunities to conduct research overseas.
Research Projects
Active Control of Tokamak Instabilities
Columbia Plasma Lab researchers have long pioneered the study of active control of tokamak instabilities.
Disruption Mitigation Research
Design against off-normal events is an essential part of fusion energy research. The rapid quench of the tokamak plasma (called a 'disruption') releases a burst of energy into the reactor vessel that must be controlled. Research involves designing systems and techniques to manage this energy release in a benign manner.
Disruption Prediction in Tokamaks
Understanding the chain of events that leads to abrupt plasma terminations is a focus of Columbia tokamak research.
Equilibrium and Stability of Spherical Tokamaks
Spherical tokamaks are compact high-pressure fusion devices. Understanding their states of equilibrium and how stable they are is key for future energy production.
Reactor Scenario Development
Columbia scientists combine the most promising elements of tokamak research to produce stable and powerful plasmas.
Theory of Stellarator Configurations
By utilizing more complex magnet geometries, a high temperature plasma can be confined without any internal currents.
Tokamak Edge Stability
Like the surface of the sun, the edge of tokamak plasmas are susceptible to bursty instabilities that must be controlled to interface the hot plasma to a material wall.