Progress in magnet design activities for the material plasma exposure experiment

Highlights: • A new linear plasma facility is proposed, requiring a superconducting magnet system. • Magnets are designed in order to meet field requirements for helicon source and electron and ion heating. • A superconducting magnet and cryogenic system has been planned in order to achieve steady-state operation and mitigate risk. - Abstract: One of the critical challenges for the development of next generation fusion facilities, such as a Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) or DEMO, is the understanding of plasma material interactions (PMI). Making progress in PMI research will require integrated facilities that can provide the types of conditions that will be seen in the first wall and divertor regions of future fusion facilities. To meet this need, a new linear plasma facility, the Materials Plasma Exposure Experiment (MPEX), is proposed. In order to generate high ion fluence to simulate fusion divertor conditions, a steady-state plasma will be generated and confined with superconducting magnets. The on-axis fields will range from 1 to 2.5 T in order to meet the requirements of the various plasma source and heating systems. Details on the pre-conceptual design of the magnets and cryogenic system are presented.