Student Posters Repository

In nuclear fusion devices, such as tokamaks and stellarators, plasma properties (density/temperature) at the plasma edge and in particular the scrape-off layer (SOL) significantly influence magnetic confinement within the plasma core. Steep gradients and large amplitudes of perturbation are present in the plasma edge and the so-called scrape-off layer region. Hence, understanding the tokamak edge is crucial for achieving successful magnetic confinement. The newly developed "PICLS" code specifically addresses SOL physics. Numerically, it is based on a Particle-in-Cell (PIC) Monte Carlo algorithm with hybrid OpenMP/MPI parallelization. Physically, a gyrokinetic (GK) model is implemented that allows to de-couple fast gyro-angle movement and thus enables significant speed-up compared to fully kinetic models. However, the validity of the GK approach within the SOL still needs to be investigated further. Up till now we implemented a 1D1V model that could successfully be tested for various plasma wall sheath studies. As a next step, the model will be extended towards three spatial dimensions to tackle more realistic problems.