Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Amplifiers for Plasma Heating and Control

Default ARPA-E Project Image

Program:
GAMOW
Award:
$1,070,000
Location:
Plainsboro, New Jersey
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
02/01/2021 - 01/25/2024
Website:

Technology Description:

Fusion power plants will need efficient, high-power electrical drivers for plasma heating, compression, and control. Wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices and innovative amplifiers may speed up the development of high-power fusion systems and reduce their eventual levelized cost of electricity. Princeton Fusion Systems will develop integrated, power-dense, reliable, and scalable power amplifier boards for plasma heating and control applications using WBG silicon carbide devices and employ advanced cooling. Individual boards will be capable of delivering more than 10 kW of power. The boards will be designed so that multiple boards of this power level can replace less-efficient devices currently in use to reduce the overall cost and make the machines more reliable. The project will design, test, and qualify individual circuit boards as the building blocks for various short-pulse, long-pulse, and continuous-wave electrical-driver power supplies for fusion-energy systems.

Potential Impact:

Successful development of fusion energy science and technology could lead to a safe, carbon-free, abundant energy source for developed and emerging economies.

Security:

The GAMOW program will advance American leadership in fusion energy science and technology.

Environment:

If successfully developed and commercialized, fusion energy can provide abundant, zero-carbon energy.

Economy:

Advances in GAMOW’s technical areas will help accelerate progress toward commercial fusion energy and a new zero-carbon energy economy.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Robert Ledoux
Project Contact:
Mr. Michael Paluszek
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
map@psatellite.com

Partners

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Princeton University
United Silicon Carbide, Inc.

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• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Advance Castable Nanostructured Alloys for First-Wall/Blanket Applications
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Plasma-Facing Component Innovations by Advanced Manufacturing and Design
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - Microstructure Optimization and Novel Processing Development of ODS Steels for Fusion Environments
• Phoenix - Application of Plasma-Window Technology to Enable an Ultra-High-Flux DT Neutron Source
• Princeton Fusion Systems - Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Amplifiers for Plasma Heating and Control
• Savannah River National Laboratory - EM-Enhanced HyPOR Loop for Fast Fusion Fuel Cycles
• Savannah River National Laboratory - Process Intensification Scale-Up of Direct LiT Electrolysis
• Stony Brook University - ENHANCED Shield: A Critical Materials Technology Enabling Compact Superconducting Tokamaks
• University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - AMPERE - Advanced Materials for Plasma-Exposed Robust Electrodes
• University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) - Renewable low-Z wall for fusion reactors with built-in tritium recovery
• University of Houston - Advanced HTS Conductors Customized for Fusion

Release Date:
02/13/2020