Integrated simulations of premagnetized and self-magnetizing dynamic screw pinch-driven MagLIF

Shipley, Gabriel A.; Yager-Elorriaga, David Alexander; Jennings, Christopher Ashley; Weis, Matthew Robert; Stakesby Lewis, William Edward

doi:10.1063/5.0267555

Integrated simulations of premagnetized and self-magnetizing dynamic screw pinch-driven MagLIF

Journal Article · Fri May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0267555· OSTI ID:2566921

^[1]; ^[2]; Jennings, Christopher Ashley ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[2]

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Magnetically driven implosions such as in magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) on the Z accelerator suffer from magneto-Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities (MRTI) that dynamically redistribute liner mass during implosion, limiting fusion fuel compression and confinement, which ultimately degrades performance. Driving the implosion with an initially helical drive field that dynamically shifts the direction of the magnetic field surrounding the liner (i.e., a dynamic screw pinch, DSP) is a method proposed to mitigate MRTI in-flight and improve target performance. In DSPs, the axial drive magnetic field component implodes the liner and diffuses through the shocked, melted liner material into the fuel throughout the implosion. Liners can be designed to enable enough axial magnetic flux to diffuse through the liner material to effectively magnetize the fuel region without the need of an initial axial magnetic field (i.e., from external field coils). We present results from three-dimensional radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of MagLIF implosions employing drive magnetic fields composed of axial and azimuthal components (a helical drive field). These simulated DSP-driven MagLIF targets demonstrate improved fuel conditions and thermonuclear yield compared to a traditional MagLIF target implosion. Synthetic x-ray radiography of the imploding liner material and x-ray emission images of the fuel region at the time of peak neutron yield rate indicate superior implosion morphology for DSP-MagLIF implosions.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2566921

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2570031
OSTI ID: 2585623

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--25-21671; SAND--2025-06447J; 10.1063/5.0267555; 1089-7674

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 32; ISSN 1070-664X; ISSN 1089-7674

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Integrated simulations of premagnetized and self-magnetizing dynamic screw pinch-driven MagLIF

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