A. J. Harvey-Thompson

Magnetically Driven Implosions for Inertial Confinement Fusion at Sandia National Laboratories

High current pulsed-power generators efficiently store and deliver magnetic energy to z-pinch targets. We review applications of magnetically driven implosions (MDIs) to inertial confinement fusion. Previous research on MDIs of wire-array z-pinches for radiation-driven indirect-drive target designs is summarized. Indirect-drive designs are compared with new targets that are imploded by direct application of magnetic pressure produced by the pulsed-power current pulse. We describe target design elements such as larger absorbed energy, magnetized and pre-heated fuel, and cryogenic fuel layers that may relax fusion requirements. These elements are embodied in the magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) concept [Slutz “Pulsed-power-driven cylindrical liner implosions of laser pre-heated fuel magnetized with an axial field,” Phys. Plasmas, 17, 056303 (2010), and Stephen A. Slutz and Roger A. Vesey, “High-Gain Magnetized Inertial Fusion,” Phys. Rev. Lett., 108, 025003 (2012)]. MagLIF is in the class of magneto-inertial fusion targets. In MagLIF, the large drive currents produce an azimuthal magnetic field that compresses cylindrical liners containing pre-heated and axially pre-magnetized fusion fuel. Scientific breakeven may be achievable on the Z facility with this concept. Simulations of MagLIF with deuterium-tritium fuel indicate that the fusion energy yield can exceed the energy invested in heating the fuel at a peak drive current of about 27 MA. Scientific breakeven does not require alpha particle self-heating and is therefore not equivalent to ignition. Capabilities to perform these experiments will be developed on Z starting in 2013. These simulations and predictions must be validated against a series of experiments over the next five years. Near-term experiments are planned at drive currents of 16 MA with D2 fuel. MagLIF increases the efficiency of coupling energy (=target absorbed energy/driver stored energy) to targets by 10-150X relative to indirect-drive targets. MagLIF also increases the absolute energy absorbed by the target by 10-50X relative to indirect-drive targets. These increases could lead to higher fusion gains and yields. Single-shot high yields are of great utility to national security missions. Higher efficiency and higher gains may also translate into more compelling (lower cost and complexity) fusion reactor designs. We will discuss the broad goals of the emerging research on the MagLIF concept and identify some of the challenges. We will also summarize advances in pulsed-power technology and pulsed-power driver architectures that double the efficiency of the driver.

Episodic Magnetic Bubbles and Jets: Astrophysical Implications from Laboratory Experiments

Collimated outflows (jets) are ubiquitous in the universe, appearing around sources as diverse as protostars and extragalactic supermassive black holes. Jets are thought to be magnetically collimated, and launched from a magnetized accretion disk surrounding a compact gravitating object. We have developed the first laboratory experiments to address time-dependent, episodic phenomena relevant to the poorly understood jet acceleration and collimation region. The experimental results show the periodic ejections of magnetic bubbles naturally evolving into a heterogeneous jet propagating inside a channel made of self-collimated magnetic cavities. The results provide a unique view of the possible transition from a relatively steady-state jet launching to the observed highly structured outflows.

Generation of episodic magnetically driven plasma jets in a radial foil Z-pinch

We present experimental results of the formation of magnetically driven plasma jets, showing for the first time a way of producing episodic jet/ouflows in the laboratory. The jets are produced using a 6.5 μm thick aluminum disk (a radial foil), which is subjected to the 1 MA, 250 ns current pulse from the MAGPIE generator [I. H. Mitchell et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 67, 1533 (1996)]. The early time motion of the foil is characterized by the bulk motion of the mass due to the magnetic pressure, together with the formation of a surface plasma following the direction of the J×B force. A low density plasma fills the region above the foil preceding the formation of subsequent magnetically driven jets on the axis of expanding magnetic bubbles. The outflows emerge in timescales of ∼30–40 ns and their episodic nature is the result of current reconnection in the foil, aided by the formation of current-driven instabilities in the jet and the distribution of mass available from the foil. The additional inductance due ...

Oblique shock structures formed during the ablation phase of aluminium wire array z-pinches

A series of experiments has been conducted in order to investigate the azimuthal structures formed by the interactions of cylindrically converging plasma flows during the ablation phase of aluminium wire array Z pinch implosions. These experiments were carried out using the 1.4 MA, 240 ns MAGPIE generator at Imperial College London. The main diagnostic used in this study was a two-colour, end-on, Mach-Zehnder imaging interferometer, sensitive to the axially integrated electron density of the plasma. The data collected in these experiments reveal the strongly collisional dynamics of the aluminium ablation streams. The structure of the flows is dominated by a dense network of oblique shock fronts, formed by supersonic collisions between adjacent ablation streams. An estimate for the range of the flow Mach number (M = 6.2-9.2) has been made based on an analysis of the observed shock geometry. Combining this measurement with previously published Thomson Scattering measurements of the plasma flow velocity by H...

Demonstration of thermonuclear conditions in magnetized liner inertial fusion experimentsa)

The magnetized liner inertial fusion concept [S. A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] utilizes a magnetic field and laser heating to relax the pressure requirements of inertial confinement fusion. The first experiments to test the concept [M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)] were conducted utilizing the 19 MA, 100 ns Z machine, the 2.5 kJ, 1 TW Z Beamlet laser, and the 10 T Applied B-field on Z system. Despite an estimated implosion velocity of only 70 km/s in these experiments, electron and ion temperatures at stagnation were as high as 3 keV, and thermonuclear deuterium-deuterium neutron yields up to 2 × 1012 have been produced. X-ray emission from the fuel at stagnation had widths ranging from 50 to 110 μm over a roughly 80% of the axial extent of the target (6–8 mm) and lasted approximately 2 ns. X-ray yields from these experiments are consistent with a stagnation density of the hot fuel equal to 0.2–0.4 g/cm3. In these experiments, up to 5 × 1010 secondary deuterium-...

Quantitative analysis of plasma ablation using inverse wire array Z pinches

An inverse (exploding) wire array configuration, in which the wires form a cylinder around a current carrying electrode on axis, was used to study the ablation phase of the wires. This configuration allows the parameters of the plasma from individual wires of the array to be measured as the ablated plasma streams propagate in the outward radial direction. The density distribution and the evolution of the natural mode of modulation of the ablation flow was measured with interferometry and soft x-ray imaging. Measurements of the voltage across the array, which in this configuration is determined by the private magnetic flux around the individual wires, allow information on the localization of the current to be obtained. Results are compared to three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations.

Formation of episodic magnetically driven radiatively cooled plasma jets in the laboratory

We report on experiments in which magnetically driven radiatively cooled plasma jets were produced by a 1 MA, 250 ns current pulse on the MAGPIE pulsed power facility. The jets were driven by the pressure of a toroidal magnetic field in a “magnetic tower” jet configuration. This scenario is characterized by the formation of a magnetically collimated plasma jet on the axis of a magnetic “bubble”, confined by the ambient medium. The use of a radial metallic foil instead of the radial wire arrays employed in our previous work allows for the generation of episodic magnetic tower outflows which emerge periodically on timescales of ∼30 ns. The subsequent magnetic bubbles propagate with velocities reaching ∼300 km/s and interact with previous eruptions leading to the formation of shocks.

Diagnosing collisions of magnetized, high energy density plasma flows using a combination of collective Thomson scattering, Faraday rotation, and interferometry (invited).

A suite of laser based diagnostics is used to study interactions of magnetised, supersonic, radiatively cooled plasma flows produced using the Magpie pulse power generator (1.4 MA, 240 ns rise time). Collective optical Thomson scattering measures the time-resolved local flow velocity and temperature across 7-14 spatial positions. The scattering spectrum is recorded from multiple directions, allowing more accurate reconstruction of the flow velocity vectors. The areal electron density is measured using 2D interferometry; optimisation and analysis are discussed. The Faraday rotation diagnostic, operating at 1053 nm, measures the magnetic field distribution in the plasma. Measurements obtained simultaneously by these diagnostics are used to constrain analysis, increasing the accuracy of interpretation.

Opacity and gradients in aluminum wire array z-pinch implosions on the Z pulsed power facility

Aluminum wire array z pinches imploded on the Z generator are an extremely bright source of 1–2 keV radiation, with close to 400 kJ radiated at photon energies >1 keV and more than 50 kJ radiated in a single line (Al Ly-α). Opacity plays a critical role in the dynamics and K-shell radiation efficiency of these pinches. Where significant structure is present in the stagnated pinch this acts to reduce the effective opacity of the system as demonstrated by direct analysis of spectra. Analysis of time-integrated broadband spectra (0.8–25 keV) indicates electron temperatures ranging from a few 100 eV to a few keV are present, indicative of substantial temperature gradients.

Interaction of a supersonic, radiatively cooled plasma jet with an ambient medium

An experimental investigation into the interaction of a supersonic, radiatively cooled plasma jet with argon gas is presented. The jet is formed by ablation of an aluminum foil driven by a 1.4 MA, 250 ns current pulse in a radial foil Z-pinch configuration. The outflow consists of a supersonic (Mach number ∼3–5), dense (ion density ni ∼ 1018 cm−3), highly collimated (half-opening angle ∼2°−5°) jet surrounded by a lower density halo plasma moving with the same axial velocity as the jet. The addition of argon above the foil leads to the formation of a shock driven by the ablation of halo plasma, together with a bow-shock driven by the dense jet. Experimental data with and without the presence of argon are compared with three-dimensional, magneto-hydrodynamic simulations using the GORGON code.