Evolution of sausage and helical modes in magnetized thin-foil cylindrical liners driven by a Z-pinch
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Here, we present experimental results on axially magnetized (Bz = 0.5 – 2.0 T), thin-foil (400 nm-thick) cylindrical liner-plasmas driven with ~600 kA by the Michigan Accelerator for Inductive Z-Pinch Experiments, which is a linear transformer driver at the University of Michigan. We show that: (1) the applied axial magnetic field, irrespective of its direction (e.g., parallel or anti-parallel to the flow of current), reduces the instability amplitude for pure magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes [defined as modes devoid of the acceleration-driven magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instability]; (2) axially magnetized, imploding liners (where MHD modes couple to MRT) generate m = 1 or m = 2 helical modes that persist from the implosion to the subsequent explosion stage; (3) the merging of instability structures is a mechanism that enables the appearance of an exponential instability growth rate for a longer than expected time-period; and (4) an inverse cascade in both the axial and azimuthal wavenumbers, k and m, may be responsible for the final m = 2 helical structure observed in our experiments. Laslty, these experiments are particularly relevant to the magnetized liner inertial fusion program pursued at Sandia National Laboratories, where helical instabilities have been observed.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000; SC0012328; NA0003525
- OSTI ID:
- 1485836
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1429580
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2018-11188J; 669582
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 5; ISSN 1070-664X
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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