Seeding magnetic fields for laser-driven flux compression in high-energy-density plasmas

Journal Article · Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3115983· OSTI ID:22053468

Gotchev, O V ^[1]; Knauer, J P; Shoup, III, M J ^[1]; Chang, P Y ^[1]; Jang, N W ^[1]; Meyerhofer, D D; Betti, R ^[1]

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1. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

A compact, self-contained magnetic-seed-field generator (5 to 16 T) is the enabling technology for a novel laser-driven flux-compression scheme in laser-driven targets. A magnetized target is directly irradiated by a kilojoule or megajoule laser to compress the preseeded magnetic field to thousands of teslas. A fast (300 ns), 80 kA current pulse delivered by a portable pulsed-power system is discharged into a low-mass coil that surrounds the laser target. A >15 T target field has been demonstrated using a <100 J capacitor bank, a laser-triggered switch, and a low-impedance (<1 {Omega}) strip line. The device has been integrated into a series of magnetic-flux-compression experiments on the 60 beam, 30 kJ OMEGA laser [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. The initial application is a novel magneto-inertial fusion approach [O. V. Gotchev et al., J. Fusion Energy 27, 25 (2008)] to inertial confinement fusion (ICF), where the amplified magnetic field can inhibit thermal conduction losses from the hot spot of a compressed target. This can lead to the ignition of massive shells imploded with low velocity--a way of reaching higher gains than is possible with conventional ICF.

• OSTI ID: 22053468
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 80, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2009 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
CAPACITORS
ENERGY DENSITY
HOT SPOTS
ICF DEVICES
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
INERTIAL FUSION DRIVERS
LASER TARGETS
LASERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC FLUX
PLASMA PRODUCTION
PLASMA SEEDING
PULSES
SHELLS
SWITCHES
THERMAL CONDUCTION