On September 30th 2016, the final day of operations at the MIT fusion reactor, the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak, the goal was to set a new world record for the highest plasma pressure (energy density) in a magnetically confined plasma. This target was met and exceeded as the old record was broken and a new bar set at 2.05 atm! This was a big moment for the team at Alcator C-Mod and a consolidation of fundamental plasma physics and years of experience from running the machine.

The footage shown is taken by a visible light camera but has been false colored and normalized to the brightest spot. The plasma discharge is 2 seconds long and the footage has been slowed down 4 times. Note that the hottest parts of the plasma are not the brightest parts of the footage. The center of the plasma is so hot that the radiation emitted is beyond the visible spectrum!

The team is sad that operations are now officially over but grand plans are being made! Stay tuned to see what we are working on next!

If you would like to learn more, please visit our website, psfc.mit.edu

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