Aerial view of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. (Photo courtesy of PPPL)
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
A U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory managed by Princeton University, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is tackling the world’s toughest science and technology challenges using plasma, the fourth state of matter.
With 70+ years of history, PPPL is a longstanding leader in the science and engineering behind the development of fusion energy, a sustainable and potentially limitless energy source. PPPL is also using its expertise in plasma to advance national priorities in the areas of microelectronics, quantum sensors and devices, and sustainability sciences. PPPL remains devoted to furthering the scientific understanding of the plasma universe from laboratory to astrophysical scales.
Through partnerships and collaborations, PPPL is working with public and private entities to bring a U.S. fusion pilot plant into operation. The Lab’s primary fusion experiment is the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade(Link is external) (NSTX-U). It’s the largest spherical tokamak (or fusion system) in the U.S. and designed to be the most powerful in the world. Its compact design may be used as a model for a fusion pilot plant and possibly a commercial fusion reactor.
A close-up of plasma and a diamond square in a quantum diamond reactor. (Photo credit: Michael Livingston, PPPL)
Aerial view of the top of NSTX-U, a fusion energy system at PPPL. (Photo credit: Michael Livingston, PPPL)
The Lab also remains a key partner in the U.S. effort to help build ITER, the international fusion experiment under construction in France. Underlying all its endeavors is the call to educate and inspire future generations for the national interest; notably, the laboratory offers the first-in-the-nation registered apprenticeship program in fusion energy and engineering.
Located in the James Forrestal Campus, PPPL has around 800 employees sitting on 90 acres and is building an expansive new center — the Princeton Plasma Innovation Center — to support the laboratory’s growing research interests. The laboratory had a 2023 federal fiscal year budget of approximately $207 million.
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Alastair Stacey, head of quantum sensors and devices at PPPL, and Nathalie de Leon, associated faculty at PPPL and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Princeton, celebrate the opening of the Quantum Diamond Laboratory. (Photo credit: Michael Livingston, PPPL)