Working alongside plasma physicists from Culham and Uppsala University, James studied electromagnetic waves in the UK’s fusion experiment, the Mega Ampère Spherical Tokamak (MAST), with plasmas similar to those likely to be present in future fusion reactors.
James said: "During my placement at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy I participated in an experiment on the MAST studying the excitation of Compressional Alfvén waves, a type of electromagnetic plasma wave, by energetic beam ions in plasmas containing hydrogen and deuterium.
"The excitation of these waves was suppressed in plasmas with increased ratios of hydrogen to deuterium. Previously unseen waves were observed at record high frequencies for the highest hydrogen to deuterium concentrations investigated. Theory regarding the transparency regions of these waves in the plasma led to explanations of the observed wave activity.
'Through this work, a technique was developed which may be useful for plasma heating, and in the diagnosis of relative ion concentration in the plasma core – required for the optimisation of fusion reactivity in future reactors."
The paper, Compressional Alfvén and ion–ion hybrid waves in tokamak plasmas with two ion species, may be found here: http://iopscience.iop.