Diagnostics for the Plasma Liner Experiment

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3478116· OSTI ID:22055844

Lynn, A G; Merritt, E; Gilmore, M ^[1]; Hsu, S C ^[2]; Witherspoon, F D ^[3]; Cassibry, J T ^[4]

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1. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States)
2. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
3. HyperV Technologies Corp., Chantilly, Virginia 20151 (United States)
4. The University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama 35899 (United States)

The goal of the Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX) is to explore and demonstrate the feasibility of forming imploding spherical ''plasma liners'' via merging high Mach number plasma jets to reach peak liner pressures of {approx}0.1 Mbar using {approx}1.5 MJ of initial stored energy. Such a system would provide HED plasmas for a variety of fundamental HEDLP, laboratory astrophysics, and materials science studies, as well as a platform for experimental validation of rad-hydro and rad-MHD simulations. It could also prove attractive as a potential standoff driver for magnetoinertial fusion. Predicted parameters from jet formation to liner stagnation cover a large range of plasma density and temperature, varying from n{sub i}{approx}10{sup 16} cm{sup -3}, T{sub e}{approx_equal}T{sub i}{approx}1 eV at the plasma gun mouth to n{sub i}>10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}, T{sub e}{approx_equal}T{sub i}{approx}0.5 keV at stagnation. This presents a challenging problem for the plasma diagnostics suite which will be discussed.

• OSTI ID: 22055844
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 81, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
EV RANGE
ION TEMPERATURE
KEV RANGE
MACH NUMBER
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PLASMA GUNS
PLASMA JETS
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
STAGNATION
STORED ENERGY