Simplified and Flexible Coils for Stellarators using Single-Stage Optimization

Abstract: Single-stage optimization, also known as combined plasma-coil algorithms or direct coil optimization, has recently emerged as a possible method to expedite the design of stellarator devices by including, in a single step, confinement, stability, and engineering constraints. In this work, we show how such frameworks allow us to find new designs in a streamlined manner, yielding a broad range of new configurations. Examples are shown for stellarators with a small number of coils and quasisymmetric stellarators with only one to three coils per half field period, with external trim coils, helical coils, and a single set of coils generating both a quasi-axisymmetric and a quasi-helical equilibrium.