Study of The Compression of an Imploding Plasma and the Magnetic- Field Flux Using Advanced, Non-Intrusive, Spectroscopic Techniques

Technical Report · 17 June 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1985433· OSTI ID:1985433

Beg, Farhat ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

The main motivation of the project was to measure the magnetic field in pulsed power driven plasma compression using advanced non-intrusive spectroscopic techniques. The strength of the project is that it encompasses a combination of laboratory experiments with diagnostics for both the magnetic field and plasma properties and computational modeling. The following issues were addressed: (1) Plasma and magnetic field dynamics, (2) Field compression and diffusion, (3) Energy balance in the system, (4) Onset of instabilities, and (5) Correlation of the plasma and field evolutions with the initial conditions. The unique feature of the research was the use of advanced spectroscopy to measure both the magnetic field and various plasma properties in multiple locations using both side-on and end-on views, simultaneously. The experimental system allowed for imploding different gas mixtures (which facilitated local measurements) and for flexibility in modifying the initial conditions. Two current generators were used with significantly different current rise times (200 ns and 1.6 µs) but at the same current level of 400 kA. The slower pulsed power generator (at rise time 1.6 µs) was based at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) and imploded plasma into which an axial magnetic field (up to 1 T) was initially embedded. The faster current rise time generator (at rise time 200 ns) based at University of California San Diego (UCSD) was used for plasma parameter studies initially, with collaborative efforts we successfully implemented the advanced spectroscopy techniques at UC San Diego. One graduate student (Nick Aybar) and a postdoctoral scholar (Maylis Dozeries) were trained. They both are based at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory now.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0019234
• OSTI ID: 1985433
• Report Number(s): DOE-UCSD-SC0019234; TRN: US2403787
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
spectroscopy
pulsed power Z-pinches and magnetic field