Overview of the C-2W Field-Reversed Configuration Experimental Program

TAE Technologies, Inc. (TAE) is a privately-funded company pursuing an alternative approach to magnetic confinement fusion, which relies on field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas composed of mostly energetic and~well-confined particles via neutral-beam injection (NBI). TAE's current experimental device, C-2W (also called ``Norman'')~[1], is the world's largest compact-toroid device which has the following key~features: linear and axisymmetric configuration; NBI with high injection power (up to 20 MW) and intra-discharge variable energy (15--40 keV) functionality; flexible edge-biasing systems in divertors; external magnetic field fast control capabilities, such as ramp-up, and active feedback control of the FRC plasma. In C-2W, record breaking, advanced beam-driven FRC plasmas dominated by fast particles are produced, achieving total plasma temperature of \textgreater 3 keV and sustained in steady state up to 30 ms that is only~limited~by energy storage. Dedicated experimental campaigns have been conducted to further optimize and also characterize FRC plasmas. This paper will review the highlights of the C-2W experimental program and newly obtained experimental results. \newline \newline [1] H. Gota \textit{et al}., Nucl. Fusion \textbf{59}, 112009 (2019).