Title: Fast electron transport dynamics and energy deposition in magnetized, imploded cylindrical plasma

Abstract

Inertial confinement fusion approaches involve the creation of high-energy-density states through compression. High gain scenarios may be enabled by the beneficial heating from fast electrons produced with an intense laser and by energy containment with a high-strength magnetic field. Here, we report experimental measurements from a configuration integrating a magnetized, imploded cylindrical plasma and intense laser-driven electrons as well as multi-stage simulations that show fast electrons transport pathways at different times during the implosion and quantify their energy deposition contribution. The experiment consisted of a CH foam cylinder, inside an external coaxial magnetic field of 5 T, that was imploded using 36 OMEGA laser beams. Two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic modelling predicts the CH density reaches 9.0 g cm^–3, the temperature reaches 920 eV and the external B-field is amplified at maximum compression to 580 T. At pre-determined times during the compression, the intense OMEGA EP laser irradiated one end of the cylinder to accelerate relativistic electrons into the dense imploded plasma providing additional heating. The relativistic electron beam generation was simulated using a 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) code. Finally, three-dimensional hybrid-PIC simulations calculated the electron propagation and energy deposition inside the target and revealed the roles the compressed and self-generated B-fields playmore » in transport. During a time window before the maximum compression time, the self-generated B-field on the compression front confines the injected electrons inside the target, increasing the temperature through Joule heating. For a stronger B-field seed of 20 T, the electrons are predicted to be guided into the compressed target and provide additional collisional heating.« less

Authors:

Kawahito, D.  ^[1];

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Bailly-Grandvaux, M.  ^[1];

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Dozières, M. ^[1]; McGuffey, C. ^[1]; Forestier-Colleoni, P. ^[1]; Peebles, J. ^[2]; Honrubia, J. J. ^[3]; Khiar, B. ^[4]; Hansen, S. ^[5]; Tzeferacos, P. ^[6]; Wei, M. S. ^[7]; Krauland, C. M. ^[8]; Gourdain, P. ^[9]; Davies, J. R. ^[2]; Matsuo, K.  ^[10];

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Fujioka, S. ^[10]; Campbell, E. M. ^[2]; Santos, J. J. ^[11]; Batani, D. ^[11]; Bhutwala, K. ^[1] more »; Zhang, S. ^[1]; Beg, F. N.  ^[1]

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-0391-8944"
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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Center for Energy Research, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0417, USA
2. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
3. E.T.S.I. Industriales, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
4. Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA), Palaiseau 91123, France
5. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA
6. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14623, USA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
7. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14623, USA, General Atomics, San Diego, CA 92186, USA
8. General Atomics, San Diego, CA 92186, USA
9. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA, Extreme State Physics Laboratory, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
10. Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
11. Université de Bordeaux-CNRS-CEA, CELIA UMR, 5107 33400 Talence, France

Publication Date:

2020-12-07

Research Org.:

Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); National Science Foundation (NSF)

OSTI Identifier:

1734406

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1784756; OSTI ID: 1810355

Report Number(s):

SAND-2021-7750J
Journal ID: ISSN 1364-503X

Grant/Contract Number:  

536203; NA0003842; NA0003943; NA-0003525; ACI-1548562; PHY180053; B632670; AC04-94AL85000

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences Journal Volume: 379 Journal Issue: 2189; Journal ID: ISSN 1364-503X

Publisher:

The Royal Society

Country of Publication:

United Kingdom

Language:

English

Subject:

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; ICF; fast electrons; compression