An Overview of Magnetic Confinement Fusion:Tokamak, Stellarator, Reversed-Field Pinch, Field-Reversed Configuration, Magnetic Mirror

Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) is widely regarded as a promising pathway toward achieving sustainable and large-scale clean energy production. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the fundamental principles, major configurations, historical evolution, and global development of MCF technologies, aims to provide a systematic understanding of the current status and future directions of MCF. Mainly, the major experimental facilities, both operational and under construction, are reviewed to provide a global perspective on current research efforts and technological maturity. Furthermore, emerging trends in fusion development are analyzed, particularly the growing importance of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets. High-field HTS magnets are identified as a critical enabling technology for next-generation fusion reactors, offering the potential for compact device design, enhanced plasma confinement, and improved economic feasibility. Also, it should be noted that the stellarator is recognized as a highly promising alternative due to its intrinsic steady-state operation and improved stability characteristics. Increasingly, stellarators are expected to play an important role in future fusion development and may, together with tokamaks, form the primary reactor configurations for commercial fusion power plants.