Reversed Field Pinch

A reversed field pinch, or RFP, is a device used to produce and contain near-thermonuclear plasmas, built as a toroidal pinch that uses a distinctive magnetic field configuration to magnetically confine plasma, primarily for the study of magnetic confinement fusion. Its magnetic geometry differs from that of a tokamak: moving outward radially, the portion of the magnetic field pointing in the toroidal direction reverses its own direction, which gives the device its name. This configuration can be sustained with comparatively lower magnetic fields than a tokamak of similar power density, though it is also more susceptible to non-linear effects and turbulence, which makes it a useful system for studying non-ideal, resistive magnetohydrodynamics. Reversed field pinches are also used to study astrophysical plasmas, which share many features with the device own confined plasma.