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  • Accepted Manuscript: Development of a cryogenically cooled platform for the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) Program [Development of a cryogenically-cooled platform for the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) Concept]

This content will become publicly available on September 25, 2018

Title: Development of a cryogenically cooled platform for the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) Program [Development of a cryogenically-cooled platform for the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) Concept]

A cryogenically cooled hardware platform has been developed and commissioned on the Z Facility at Sandia National Laboratories in support of the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) Program. MagLIF is a magneto-inertial fusion concept that employs a magnetically imploded metallic tube (liner) to compress and inertially confine premagnetized and preheated fusion fuel. The fuel is preheated using a ~2 kJ laser that must pass through a ~1.5-3.5-μm-thick polyimide “window” at the target’s laser entrance hole (LEH). As the terawatt-class laser interacts with the dense window, laser plasma instabilities (LPIs) can develop, which reduce the preheat energy delivered to the fuel, initiate fuel contamination, and degrade target performance. Cryogenically cooled targets increase the parameter space accessible to MagLIF target designs by allowing nearly 10 times thinner windows to be used for any accessible gas density. Thinner LEH windows reduce the deleterious effects of difficult to model LPIs. The Z Facility’s cryogenic infrastructure has been significantly altered to enable compatibility with the premagnetization and fuel preheat stages of MagLIF. The MagLIF cryostat brings the liquid helium coolant directly to the target via an electrically resistive conduit. This design maximizes cooling power while allowing rapid diffusion of the axial magnetic field supplied bymore » external Helmholtz-like coils. A variety of techniques have been developed to mitigate the accumulation of ice from vacuum chamber contaminants on the cooled LEH window, as even a few hundred nanometers of ice would impact laser energy coupling to the fuel region. Here, the MagLIF cryostat has demonstrated compatibility with the premagnetization and preheat stages of MagLIF and the ability to cool targets to liquid deuterium temperatures in approximately 5 min.« less
Authors:
 [1] ;  [2] ;  [3] ;  [1] ; ORCiD logo [1] ;  [1] ;  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  2. Kansas City National Security Campus, Kansas City, MO (United States)
  3. Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Report Number(s):
SAND-2017-11047J
Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748; RSINAK; 657773; TRN: US1703037
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 88; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Research Org:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
OSTI Identifier:
1406364