A Collaborative National Center for Fusion & Plasma Research

Research

The U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is dedicated to developing fusion as a clean and abundant source of energy and to advancing the frontiers of plasma science. The Laboratory pursues these goals through experiments and computer simulations of the behavior of plasma, the hot electrically charged gas that fuels fusion reactions and has a wide range of practical applications.

Experimental Fusion Research
Fusion powers the sun and stars. The process takes place when the atomic nuclei—or ions—in hot, electrically charged plasma fuse and release a burst of energy. PPPL studies how to recreate this process in the laboratory by heating plasma to tens of millions of degrees Celsius and confining it in powerful magnetic fields.
Theoretical Fusion Research

The PPPL Theory Department helps to provide the scientific foundation for harnessing fusion energy. The Department creates computer programs that simulate the plasma inside magnetic fusion facilities and can be used to predict how the plasma will behave under different conditions.

Basic Plasma Science
Plasma research at PPPL explores the science behind the behavior of the electrically charged gas in everything from deep space to the production of high-energy particle beams and nano materials.
Plasma Astrophysics
Astrophysical research focuses on the behavior of plasma in the solar system and beyond. Astrophysical plasmas make up 99 percent of the known universe since they compose the sun and stars.
Other Physics and Engineering Research

PPPL conducts a host of varied projects in physics and engineering representing the cutting edge in science and technology.

PPPL Technical Reports
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

PPPL scientists publish their research on the Laboratory’s website and in leading technical journals.

U.S. Department of Energy
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Princeton University.

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Princeton University
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
P.O. Box 451
Princeton, NJ 08543-0451
GPS: 100 Stellarator Road
Princeton, NJ, 08540
(609) 243-2000