Early Career Award

In May 2014, Brian was granted a DOE Early Career Research Program award for his proposal “Exploration of main-ion properties at the boundary of fusion reactors” to develop a main-ion charge-exchange diagnostic suitable for the H-mode pedestal and study the transport of particles, energy and momentum in the main-ion channel. This early career award (ECA) proposed a research program of diagnostic development, experimental and theoretical plasma physics covering five years and funded at the level of $2.5 M. The funded research program spanned the years 2014 to 2019, achieved eight first author publications, five invited talks and two Department of Energy Fusion Energy Sciences Web Highlights. Two postdocs were brought into the project and both were hired to research staff after their postdoc term ended. For these achievements, Brian was awarded the Kaul Foundation Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and Technology Development in 2017 by Princeton University “For groundbreaking studies in deuterium charge exchange spectroscopy, leading to the first routine measurement of main ion flow in a fusion plasma.” Results produced by the ECA team have supported, and continue to support multiple other talks, papers, proceedings and research activities at DIII-D.

Scientific Productivity

Highlights, Press Releases and Seminars

Active spectroscopy measurements of the Deuterium temperature, rotation, and density in the pedestal region of the DIII-D tokamak

S.R. Haskey, et. al.

Seminar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Cambridge, MA 13 March 2020

Measuring the Ion Temperature, Rotation and Density: Impurity and Main-ion Charge Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy

S.R. Haskey, et. al.

Seminar, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Graduate Summer School

Princeton, NJ, 14 August 2019

Not All Ions in Tokamaks Go with the Flow

S.R. Haskey, A. Ashourvan and B.A. Grierson

Spectroscopic measurements reveal that main ions flow much faster than impurities at the edge of fusion-relevant plasmas

Office of Science FES Web Highlight 19 Feb 2019

Recent advances in measuring and understanding plasma rotation in the DIII-D tokamak

B.A. Grierson

Seminar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Cambridge, MA, 16 March 2018

Advances in Measuring and Understanding Plasma Rotation in Tokamaks

B.A. Grierson

Seminar, Department of Engineering Physics University of Wisconsin Madison

Madison, WI, 15 February 2018

For groundbreaking studies in deuterium charge exchange spectroscopy, leading to the first routine measurement of main ion flow in a fusion plasma

B.A. Grierson

Kaul Foundation Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and Technology Development, Princeton University

PPPL Press Release 13 Nov 2017

Computer simulations of DIII-D experiments shed light on mysterious plasma flows

PPPL Press Release 5 Apr 2017

Plasma Turbulence Generates Flow in Fusion Reactors

B.A. Grierson and W.X. Wang

Heating the core of fusion reactors causes them to develop sheared rotation that can improve plasma performance

Office of Science FES Web Highlight 27 Apr 2017

Experimental Study of Transport Driven Intrinsic Rotation and the Pedestal Top in the DIII-D Tokamak

Arash Ashourvan

Seminar, University of California San Diego

San Diego, CA, 27 Feb 2017

Exploration of main-ion properties at the boundary of fusion reactors

B.A. Grierson

DOE Early Career Research Program award

Press Releases from PPPL, General Atomics, ITER Newsline 2014

First Author Publications by ECA Team

Ion thermal transport in the H-mode edge transport barrier on DIII-D

Main-ion Intrinsic Toroidal Rotation Across the ITG/TEM Boundary in DIII-D Discharges During Ohmic and Electron Cyclotron Heating

Relative Intensity Calibration of the DIII-D Charge-Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy System Using Neutral Beam Injection into Gas

B.A. Grierson, K.H. Burrell, C. Chrystal and S.R. Haskey

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 89 10D116

Published 14 September 2018 doi: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5037333

Active spectroscopy measurements of the deuterium temperature, rotation, and density from the core to scrape off layer on the DIII-D tokamak

Main ion and impurity edge profile evolution across the L- to H-mode transition on DIII-D

Validation of the kinetic-turbulent-neoclassical theory for edge intrinsic rotation in DIII-D

Deuterium charge exchange recombination spectroscopy from the top of the pedestal to the scrape off layer in H-mode plasmas

Measurement of deuterium density profiles in the H-mode steep gradient region using charge exchange recombination spectroscopy on DIII-D

High resolution main-ion charge exchange spectroscopy in the DIII-D H-mode pedestal

Co-Author Publications Supported by ECA Team

Publications where ECA team and results play a key role

Creation and sustainment of wide pedestal quiescent H-mode with zero net neutral beam torque

K.H. Burrell, Xi Chen, C. Chrystal, D.R. Ernst, B.A. Grierson, S.R. Haskey, T.H. Osborne, C. Paz-Soldan and T.M. Wilks

Nucl. Fusion 60 086005 (2020)

Published: 3 July 2020 doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ab940d

Predicting the rotation profile in ITER

By: C. Chrystal, B.A. Grierson, S.R. Haskey, A.C. Sontag, F.M. Poli, M.W. Shafer and J.S. deGrassie

Nucl. Fusion 60 036003 (2020)

Published 21 January 2020 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ab6434

DIII-D shaping demonstrates correlation of intrinsic momentum with energy

By: J.S. deGrassie, T.L. Rhodes, T.H. Osborne, L. Zeng, A. Ashourvan, J.A. Boedo, C. Chrystal, B.A. Grierson and S.R. Haskey

Nucl. Fusion 59 096011 (2019)

Published 19 July 2019 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ab2bb0

Safety factor and turbulence dynamics dependence of the L-H power threshold on DIII-D

By: Z. Yan, G. R. Mckee, P. Gohil, L. Schmitz, C. Holland, S. R. Haskey, B. A. Grierson, R. Ke, T. Rhodes and C. Petty

Phys. Plasmas 26 062507 (2019)

Published 17 June 2019 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5091701

Synthetic diagnostic for assessing spatial averaging of charge exchange recombination spectroscopy measurements

C. Chrystal, A. A. Sulyman, S.R. Haskey, K. H. Burrell, and B.A. Grierson

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 89 10D101 (2018)

Published 9 July 2018 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5036964

OMFIT Tokamak Profile Data Fitting and Physics Analysis

N. C. Logan, B. A. Grierson, S. R. Haskey, S. P. Smith, O. Meneghini and D. Eldon

Fus. Sci. and Technol. 74 125 (2018)

Published 22 January 2018 https://doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1386943

Impact of toroidal and poloidal mode spectra on the control of non-axisymmetric fields in tokamaks

M. J. Lanctot, J.-K. Park, P. Piovesan, Y. Sun, R. J. Buttery, L. Frassinetti, B. A. Grierson, J. M. Hanson, S. R. Haskey, Y. In, Y. M. Jeon, R. J. La Haye, N. C. Logan, L. Marrelli, D. M. Orlov, C. Paz-Soldan, H. H. Wang, E. J. Strait and JET Contributors

Phys. Plasmas 24 056117 (2017)

Published 18 May 2017 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4982688

Dependence of intrinsic torque and momentum confinement on normalized gyroradius and collisionality in the DIII-D tokamak

C. Chrystal, B. A. Grierson, W. M. Solomon, T. Tala, J. S. deGrassie, C. C. Petty, A. Salmi, and K. H. Burrell

Phys. Plasmas 24 042501 (2017)

Published 29 March 2017 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4978563

Experimental evidence of edge intrinsic momentum source driven by kinetic ion loss and edge radial electric fields in tokamaks

J. A. Boedo J. S. deGrassie, B. Grierson, T. Stoltzfus-Dueck, D. J. Battaglia, D. L. Rudakov, E. A. Belli, R. J. Groebner, E. Hollmann, C. Lasnier, W. M. Solomon, E. A. Unterberg, J. Watkins, and DIII-D Team

Phys. Plasmas 23 092506 (2016)

Published 21 September 2016 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4962683

DIII-D research to address key challenges for ITER and fusion energy

R.J. Buttery and the DIII-D Team

Nucl. Fusion 55 104017 (2015)

Published 29 July 2015 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/55/10/104017

Invited Talks by ECA Team

Main-ion Thermal Transport in High Performance DIII-D Edge Transport Barriers

S.R. Haskey

American Physical Society - Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP 2020)

Memphis, Tennessee, 9-13 November 2020

Observations of Main-ion Toroidal Rotation and Turbulence Fluctuations Across the ITG/TEM Transition in DIII-D and Comparison to Gyrokinetic Simulations

B.A. Grierson

American Physical Society - Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP 2018)

Portland, Oregon, 7 November 2018 NI3.1

Press Releases from PPPL

Main-ion and impurity rotation, temperature, and density evolution across the L-H transition on DIII-D

S. R. Haskey

23rd Join EU-US Transport Task Force Meeting

Seville, Spain 11 - 14 September 2018

Active Spectroscopy Measurements of the Deuterium Temperature, Rotation, and Density from the Core to the Scrape Off Layer on the DIII-D Tokamak

S. R. Haskey

High Temperature Plasma Diagnostics (HTPD 2018)

San Diego, CA, 15-19 April 2018

Validation of Kinetic-Turbulent-Neoclassical Theory for Edge Intrinsic Rotation in DIII-D Plasmas

Arash Ashourvan

American Physical Society - Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP 2017)

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 24 October 2017 JI3.1

Validation of Kinetic-Turbulent-Neoclassical Theory for Edge Intrinsic Rotation in DIII-D Plasmas

Arash Ashourvan

US Transport Task Force Workshop (TTF 2017)

Williamsburg, VA 25 April 2017

Validation of Theoretical Models of Intrinsic Torque in DIII-D and Projection to ITER by Dimensionless Scaling

B.A. Grierson

International Atomic Energy Agency - Fusion Energy Conference (IAEA FEC 2016)

Kyoto, Japan, 22 October 2016 EX-11/1

Contributions to Conferences and Presentations by ECA Team

Contributions delivered by ECA team or where ECA team or results play a key role

Testing the DIII-D Co/Counter Off-axis Neutral Beam Injected Power and Ability to Balance Injected Torque

B.A. Grierson, M.A. Van Zeeland, J. M. Park, I. Bykov, W. W. Heidbrink, J. T. Scoville, B. Crowley, A. Nagy, S.R. Haskey

Proceedings of the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, P/1-744, Nice, France, 10-15 May 2021 (Originally 12-17 October 2020. Rescheduled due to COVID-19.)

https://conferences.iaea.org/event/214/contributions/17131/contribution.pdf

Turbulence Flow Dynamics and Mode Structure Impacts on the L-H Transition

Z. Yan, G. McKee, D. Kriete, L. Schmitz, P. Gohil, C. Holland, S. Haskey, B.A. Grierson, R. Wilcox, T. Rhodes, C. Craig Petty

Proceedings of the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, P/1-873, Nice, France, 10-15 May 2021 (Originally 12-17 October 2020. Rescheduled due to COVID-19.)

https://conferences.iaea.org/event/214/contributions/17142/contribution.pdf

Effect of pedestal fluctuations on inter-ELM pedestal recovery and ELM characteristics in ECH dominated discharges in DIII-D

S. Banerjee, S. Mordijck, K. Kumar Barada, L. Zeng, R.J. Groebner, T. Osborne, T. Rhodes, P. B. Snyder, B.A. Grierson, A. Diallo, Z. Yan, J. Chen, F. M. Laggner, S. Haskey

Proceedings of the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, P/1-939, Nice, France, 10-15 May 2021 (Originally 12-17 October 2020. Rescheduled due to COVID-19.)

https://conferences.iaea.org/event/214/contributions/17153/contribution.pdf

Reducing the L-H Transition Power Threshold via Neoclassical Toroidal Viscosity, Edge Rotation Reversals, and Shape Changes

L. Schmitz, R.S. Wilcox, T.L. Rhodes, Z. Yan, G.R. McKee, T.E. Evans, B.C. Lyons, C. Paz-Soldan, D. Orlov, D.M. Kriete, L. Zeng, T. Osborne, S. Haskey, B.A. Grierson, P. Gohil, C.C. Petty

Proceedings of the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, P/1-1007, Nice, France, 10-15 May 2021 (Originally 12-17 October 2020. Rescheduled due to COVID-19.)

https://conferences.iaea.org/event/214/contributions/17133/contribution.pdf

Main-ion Thermal Transport in High Performance DIII-D Edge Transport Barriers

S. Haskey, B.A. Grierson, C. Chrystal, G. J. Kramer, Z. Yan, E. A. Belli, Terry Rhodes, Florian M. Laggner, Kshitish Kumar Barada, Jie Chen, Raffi Nazikian, Jeff Candy, Michael Van Zeeland, A. Ashourvan, S. Banerjee

Proceedings of the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, P/1-750, Nice, France, 10-15 May 2021 (Originally 12-17 October 2020. Rescheduled due to COVID-19.)

https://conferences.iaea.org/event/214/contributions/17145/contribution.pdf

Intrinsic rotation reversals of JET and DIII-D plasmas in Deuterium and Hydrogen

M. F. F. Nave, Ephrem Delabie, M. Barnes, Joao Bernardo, Francis Casson, C. Chrystal, J. Ferreira, Jeronimo Garcia, B.A. Grierson, B. Lomanowski, A. Mauriya, J. deGrassie, F. Parra, M. Romanelli

Proceedings of the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, P/3-1226, Nice, France, 10-15 May 2021 (Originally 12-17 October 2020. Rescheduled due to COVID-19.)

https://conferences.iaea.org/event/214/contributions/17304/contribution.pdf

Comparison of main-ion thermal transport and poloidal rotation to neoclassical theory in the H-mode pedestal on DIII-D

S.R. Haskey, B.A. Grierson, C. Chrystal C., A. Ashourvan, D.J. Battaglia, T. Stoltzfus-Dueck, E. Belli, L. Schmitz

17th International Workshop on H-mode Physics and Transport Barriers

Shanghai, China, 9-11 October 2019

Advances in Understanding Plasma Rotation and Ion Thermal Transport Using Main-ion Measurements in DIII-D

S.R. Haskey​, B.Grierson, C. Chrystal, A. Ashourvan, D. J. Battaglia​, T. Stoltzfus-Dueck

Proceedings of the 46th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics, P2.1075, Milan, Italy 12-18 July 2019

Measurements and neoclassical modeling of deuterium and impurity toroidal rotation and temperature profiles in the H-mode pedestal and steep gradient region

S.R. Haskey, D.J. Battaglia , B.A. Grierson , A. Ashourvan , E.A Belli , C. Chrystal

American Physical Society - Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP 2018)

Portland, Oregon, 7 November 2018 BO5.11

Viability of Wide Pedestal QH-Mode for Burning Plasma Operation

D. R. Ernst, K. H. Burrell, X. Chen, K. K. Barada, C. C. Petty, T. L. Rhodes, C. Chrystal , C. Paz-Soldan , T. M. Wilks, B. A. Grierson , S.R. Haskey, M. E. Austin , T. Carlstrom, J.Chen, G.R.McKee, T.H.Osborne, C.Sung, D.Truong and L.Zeng

Proceedings of the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, EX/2-2, Ahmedabad, India, 22-27 October 2018

https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/fusionportal/Shared%20Documents/FEC%202018/fec2018-preprints/preprint0580.pdf

Predicting the Toroidal Rotation Profile for ITER

C. Chrystal, B. A. Grierson, S. R. Haskey, J. S. deGrassie, G. M. Staebler, T. Tala, and A. Salmi

Proceedings of the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, EX/5-2, Ahmedabad, India, 22-27 October 2018

https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/fusionportal/Shared%20Documents/FEC%202018/fec2018-preprints/preprint0209.pdf

DIII-D Shaping Demonstrates Correlation of Intrinsic Momentum with Energy

J. S. deGrassie, T. L. Rhodes, J. A. Boedo, B. A. Grierson, C. Chrystal, T. H. Osborne, S.R. Haskey and A. Ashourvan

Proceedings of the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, EX/P6-1, Ahmedabad, India, 22-27 October 2018

https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/fusionportal/Shared%20Documents/FEC%202018/fec2018-preprints/preprint0211.pdf

Wide Pedestal Quiescent H-mode Plasmas in DIII-D Tokamak

Xi Chen, K.H. Burrell, T.H. Osborne, K. Barada, D. R. Ernst, C. Chrystal, B.A. Grierson, G.R. McKee, T. Odstrcil, C.P. Paz-Soldan, C.C. Petty, T.L. Rhodes, J.C. Rost, W.M. Solomon, T.M. Wilks, Z. Yan and L. Zeng

European Physical Society 45th Conference on Plasma Physics

Prague, Czech Republic, 2-6 July 2018 O2.112

Optimizing 3D spectra for rotation control

N.C. Logan, S.R. Haskey, B.A. Grierson, R. Nazikian, C. Chrystal, C. Paz-Soldan

European Physical Society 45th Conference on Plasma Physics

Prague, Czech Republic, 2-6 July 2018 P4.1037

Using rotating current ribbons to model MHD: the EHO

Emilia R. Solano, K. Burrell, T. Strait, T. Evans, S. Haskey, T. Osborne, X. Chen, B. S. Victor, C. P. von Thun, DIII-D team and JET Contributors

European Physical Society 45th Conference on Plasma Physics

Prague, Czech Republic, 2-6 July 2018 P4.1044

Advances in Understanding and Control of Plasma Rotation on DIII-D

B A Grierson , N Logan , S Haskey , A Ashourvan , D Ernst , C Chrystal , J deGrassie, J Boedo , T Tala , A Salmi

American Physical Society - Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP 2017)

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 24 October 2017 BO4.7