The history of research into improved confinement regimes

Abstract

Increasing the pressure by additional heating of magnetically confined plasmas had theconsequence that turbulent processes became more violent and plasma confinement degraded.Since this experience from the early 1980ies, fusion research was dominated by the searchfor confinement regimes with improved properties. It was a gratifying experience thattoroidally confined plasmas are able to self-organise in such a way that turbulencediminishes, resulting in a confinement with good prospects to reach the objectives offusion R&D. The understanding of improved confinement regimes revolutionized theunderstanding of turbulent transport in high-temperature plasmas. In this paper the storyof research into improved confinement regimes will be narrated starting with 1980.