Abstract
The MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion) concept [S. A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] has demonstrated fusion–relevant plasma conditions [M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)] on the Z accelerator with a peak drive current of about 18 MA. We present 2D numerical simulations of the scaling of MagLIF on Z as a function of drive current, preheat energy, and applied magnetic field. The results indicate that deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion yields greater than 100 kJ could be possible on Z when all of these parameters are at the optimum values: i.e., peak current = 25 MA, deposited preheat energy = 5 kJ, and Bz = 30 T. Much higher yields have been predicted [S. A. Slutz and R. A. Vesey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 025003 (2012)] for MagLIF driven with larger peak currents. Two high performance pulsed-power accelerators (Z300 and Z800) based on linear-transformer-driver technology have been designed [W. A. Stygar et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 18, 110401 (2015)]. The Z300 design would provide 48 MA to a MagLIF load, while Z800 would provide 65 MA. Parameterized Thevenin-equivalent circuits were used to drive a series of 1D and 2D numerical MagLIF simulations with currents ranging from what Z can deliver now to what could be achieved by these conceptual future pulsed-power accelerators. 2D simulations of simple MagLIF targets containing just gaseous DT have yields of 18 MJ for Z300 and 440 MJ for Z800. The 2D simulated yield for Z800 is increased to 7 GJ by adding a layer of frozen DT ice to the inside of the liner.
Highlights
Conventional approaches to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) rely on implosion velocities greater than 350 km/s and spherical convergence of 30 or more to achieve the high fuel temperatures (T > 4 keV) and areal densities required for ignition.1 Such high velocities are achieved by heating the outside surface of a spherical capsule to generate ablation pressures as high as 150 Mbars
The results indicate that deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion yields greater than 100 kJ could be possible on Z when all of these parameters are at the optimum values: i.e., peak current 1⁄4 25 MA, deposited preheat energy 1⁄4 5 kJ, and Bz 1⁄4 30 T
Parameterized Thevenin-equivalent circuits were used to drive a series of 1D and 2D numerical MagLIF simulations with currents ranging from what Z can deliver to what could be achieved by these conceptual future pulsed-power accelerators. 2D simulations of simple MagLIF targets containing just gaseous DT have yields of 18 MJ for Z300 and 440 MJ for Z800
Summary
Conventional approaches to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) rely on implosion velocities greater than 350 km/s and spherical convergence of 30 or more to achieve the high fuel temperatures (T > 4 keV) and areal densities (qR > 0.3 g/cm2) required for ignition. Such high velocities are achieved by heating the outside surface of a spherical capsule to generate ablation pressures as high as 150 Mbars. Preliminary results are encouraging and plans have been made to obtain phase plates to smooth the spatial beam profile of Z Beamlet laser This should allow more effective laser heating of the fuel for future MagLIF experiments. This emphasizes the importance of beam smoothing and experiments to determine the beam parameters needed to heat the fuel without induce unacceptable mix It has been shown numerically that high yield and high gain should be possible using MagLIF with the addition of layer of DT ice on the inside of the liner (we shall refer to such a MagLIF target as an “ice burner”), but significantly higher drive currents are required than can be delivered by the present Z accelerator (18–25 MA) to a MagLIF load. When simulations can describe MagLIF performance over the large performance space available with Z, we will have increased confidence in projecting target performance on future pulsed power facilities
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