F.M. Bieniosek

Simulating Electron Clouds in Heavy-Ion Accelerators

Contaminating clouds of electrons are a concern for most accelerators of positively charged particles, but there are some unique aspects of heavy-ion accelerators for fusion and high-energy density physics which make modeling such clouds especially challenging. In particular, self-consistent electron and ion simulation is required, including a particle advance scheme which can follow electrons in regions where electrons are strongly magnetized, weakly magnetized, and unmagnetized. The approach to such self-consistency is described, and in particular a scheme for interpolating between full-orbit (Boris) and drift-kinetic particle pushes that enables electron time steps long compared to the typical gyroperiod in the magnets. Tests and applications are presented: simulation of electron clouds produced by three different kinds of sources indicates the sensitivity of the cloud shape to the nature of the source; first-of-a-kind self-consistent simulation of electron-cloud experiments on the high-current experim...

Ion-beam-driven warm dense matter experiments

Author(s): Bieniosek, F.M.; Ni, P.; Leitner, M.; Roy, P.; More, R.; Barnard, J.J.; Covo, M. Kireeff; Molvik, A.W.; Yoneda, H.

Overview of US heavy ion fusion research

Significant experimental and theoretical progress has been made in the U.S. heavy ion fusion program on high-current sources, injectors, transport, final focusing, chambers and targets for high energy density physics (HEDP) and inertial fusion energy (IFE) driven by induction linac accelerators. One focus of present research is the beam physics associated with quadrupole focusing of intense, space-charge dominated heavy-ion beams, including gas and electron cloud effects at high currents, and the study of long-distance-propagation effects such as emittance growth due to field errors in scaled experiments. A second area of emphasis in present research is the introduction of background plasma to neutralize the space charge of intense heavy ion beams and assist in focusing the beams to a small spot size. In the near future, research will continue in the above areas, and a new area of emphasis will be to explore the physics of neutralized beam compression and focusing to high intensities required to heat targets to high energy density conditions as well as for inertial fusion energy.

Ion sources and injectors for HIF induction linacs

Ion source and injector development is one of the major parts of the HIF program in the USA. Our challenge is to design a cost effective driver-scale injector and to build a multiple beam module within the next couple of years. In this paper, several current-voltage scaling laws are summarized for guiding the injector design. Following the traditional way of building injectors for HIF induction linac, we have produced a preliminary design for a multiple beam driver-scale injector. We also developed an alternate option for a high current density injector that is much smaller in size. One of the changes following this new option is the possibility of using other kinds of ion sources than the surface ionization sources. So far, we are still looking for an ideal ion source candidate that can readily meet all the essential requirements.

Ion beam heated target simulations for warm dense matter physics and inertial fusion energy

ION BEAM HEATED TARGET SIMULATIONS FOR WARM DENSE MATTER PHYSICS AND INERTIAL FUSION ENERGY J. J. Barnard 1 , J. Armijo 2 , D. S. Bailey 1 , A. Friedman 1 , F. M. Bieniosek 2 , E. Henestroza 2 , I. Kaganovich 3 , P. T. Leung 5 , B. G. Logan 2 , M.M. Marinak 1 , R. M. More 2 , S. F. Ng 2,5 , G. E. Penn 2 , L. J. Perkins 1 , S. Veitzer 4 , J. S. Wurtele 2 , S. S. Yu 2,5 , A. B. Zylstra 2 1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 USA 2. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA 3. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08543 USA 4. Tech-X Corporation, Boulder, CO 80303 USA 5. Chinese University Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Abstract. Hydrodynamic simulations have been carried out using the multi-physics radiation hydrodynamics code HYDRA and the simplified one-dimensional hydrodynamics code DISH. We simulate possible targets for a near-term experiment at LBNL (the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment, NDCX) and possible later experiments on a proposed facility (NDCX-II) for studies of warm dense matter and inertial fusion energy related beam-target coupling. Simulations of various target materials (including solids and foams) are presented. Experimental configurations include single pulse planar metallic solid and foam foils. Concepts for double-pulsed and ramped-energy pulses on cryogenic targets and foams have been simulated for exploring direct drive beam target coupling, and concepts and simulations for collapsing cylindrical and spherical bubbles to enhance temperature and pressure for warm dense matter studies *Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 at LLNL, and University of California contract DE-AC02- 05CH11231 at LBNL and contract DEFG0295ER40919 at PPPL. I. Introduction Heavy ion accelerators have long been advanced as drivers for inertial fusion energy (IFE), for their high efficiency, intrinsically high repetition rate, and their attractive final focus and chamber solutions. In a heavy ion fusion (HIF) driver, the final focus is accomplished using magnets (quadrupoles or solenoids) which can be shielded from the fusion microexplosions. The solid chamber wall can be shielded from the microexplosions using a flowing liquid salt, that acts as protection to the solid wall; an absorber of heat from the microexplosion; a heat transfer medium; and a breeder of the tritium component of the fuel. Because of high accelerator efficiency, both indirect drive targets and direct drive targets remain options for HIF. Indirect drive has relatively low intrinsic coupling efficiency (ratio of fuel kinetic energy to beam energy) because of the energy penalty in raising the temperature of the hohraum walls, but indirect drive targets

Progress in heavy ion fusion research

The U.S. Heavy Ion Fusion program has recently commissioned several new experiments. In the High Current Experiment [P. A. Seidl et al., Laser Part. Beams 20, 435 (2003)], a single low-energy beam with driver-scale charge-per-unit-length and space-charge potential is being used to study the limits to transportable current posed by nonlinear fields and secondary atoms, ions, and electrons. The Neutralized Transport Experiment similarly employs a low-energy beam with driver-scale perveance to study final focus of high perveance beams and neutralization for transport in the target chamber. Other scaled experiments—the University of Maryland Electron Ring [P. G. O’Shea et al., accepted for publication in Laser Part. Beams] and the Paul Trap Simulator Experiment [R. C. Davidson, H. Qin, and G. Shvets, Phys. Plasmas 7, 1020 (2000)]—will provide fundamental physics results on processes with longer scale lengths. An experiment to test a new injector concept is also in the design stage. This paper will describe th...

A 1.8-MeV K + injector for the high current beam transport experiment

For the High Current Beam Transport Experiment (HCX) at LBNL, an injector is required to deliver up to 1.8 MV of 0.6 A K{sup +} beam with an emittance of {approx}1 p-mm-mrad. We have successfully operated a 10-cm diameter surface ionization source together with an electrostatic quadrupole (ESQ) accelerator to meet these requirements. The pulse length is {approx}4 {micro}s, firing at once every 10-15 seconds. By optimizing the extraction diode and the ESQ voltages, we have obtained an output beam with good current density uniformity, except for a small increase near the beam edge. Characterization of the beam emerging from the injector included measurements of the intensity profile, beam imaging, and transverse phase space. These data along with comparison to computer simulations provide the knowledge base for designing and understanding future HCX experiments.

The high current experiment: First results

The High Current Experiment (HCX) is being assembled at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as part of the US program to explore heavy-ion beam transport at a scale representative of the low-energy end of an induction linac driver for fusion energy production. The primary mission of this experiment is to investigate aperture fill factors acceptable for the transport of space-charge dominated heavy-ion beams at high spacecharge intensity (line-charge density {approx} 0.2 {micro}C/m) over long pulse durations (>4 {micro}s). This machine will test transport issues at a driver-relevant scale resulting from nonlinear space-charge effects and collective modes, beam centroid alignment and beam steering, matching, image charges, halo, lost-particle induced electron effects, and longitudinal bunch control. We present the first experimental results carried out with the coasting K{sup +} ion beam transported through the first 10 electrostatic transport quadrupoles and associated diagnostics. Later phases of the experiment will include more electrostatic lattice periods to allow more sensitive tests of emittance growth, and also magnetic quadrupoles to explore similar issues in magnetic channels with a full driver scale beam.

Planning for an integrated research experiment

We describe the goals and research program leading to the Heavy Ion Integrated Research Experiment (IRE). We review the basic constraints which lead to a design and give examples of parameters and capabilities of an IRE. We also show design tradeoffs generated by the systems code IBEAM.

Focusing and neutralization of intense beams

In heavy ion inertial confinement fusion systems, intense beams of ions must be transported from the exit of the final focus magnet system through the target chamber to hit millimeter spot sizes on the target. Effective plasma neutralization of intense ion beams through the target chamber is essential for the viability of an economically competitive heavy ion fusion power plant. The physics of neutralized drift has been studied extensively with PIC simulations. To provide quantitative comparisons of theoretical predictions with experiment, the Heavy Ion Fusion Virtual National Laboratory has completed the construction and has begun experimentation with the NTX (Neutralized Transport Experiment) as shown in Figure 1. The experiment consists of 3 phases, each with physics issues of its own. Phase 1 is designed to generate a very high brightness potassium beam with variable perveance, using a beam aperturing technique. Phase 2 consists of magnetic transport through four pulsed quadrupoles. Here, beam tuning as well as the effects of phase space dilution through higher order nonlinear fields must be understood. In Phase 3, a converging ion beam at the exit of the magnetic section is transported through a drift section with plasma sources for beam neutralization, and the final spot size is measured under various conditions of neutralization. In this paper, we present first results from all 3 phases of the experiment.