Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear

Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear (IPFN) (Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion) is a research unit of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Lisbon, and a leading Portuguese institution in physics research. IPFN has the status of Associate Laboratory in the thematic areas of controlled nuclear fusion, plasma technologies and intense lasers, granted by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.

IPFN was formally created in January 2008, as a result of the merging between the former research units Center for Nuclear Fusion and Center for Plasma Physics. As of 2015, almost 190 people work at IPFN, of which more than 100 are PhDs.

Organization

IPFN is organized in seven research groups: Engineering and Systems Integration, Experimental Physics, Materials Processing and Characterisation, Theory and Modelling, Lasers and Plasmas, Gas Discharges and Gaseous Electronics, and High Pressure Plasmas. The activities in the frame of the Associate Laboratory are evaluated by an External Evaluation Committee. IPFN is also the research unit of the Contract of Association between EURATOM and IST, in force since 1990. These activities are coordinated by the Head of Research Unit and monitored by a steering committee.
Main research fields

IPFN activities are centered on the following competences:

Magnetic Confinement Fusion Devices
Fusion Engineering Systems
Fusion Theory and Modelling
Inertial fusion
Laser-Plasma Accelerators
High-Performance Computing
Relativistic Astrophysics
Novel Radiation Sources
Ultra Intense Photonics
Space Physics
Environmental Plasma Engineering Laboratory
Kinetics in Plasmas and Afterglows
Modelling of Plasma Sources
Quantum Plasmas