Members of the Innovative Concepts Group developed a laser-driven version of the MagLIF scheme 1 at Sandia National Laboratories to provide the first data on scaling at over a factor of 1000× in drive energy [2,3]. MagLIF is a magneto-inertial fusion scheme that relies on an axial magnetic field and preheating to allow fusion conditions to be achieved in a relatively slow, low-convergence cylindrical implosion 1. MagLIF on the Z machine at Sandia relies on magnetic pressure to compress the cylinder (liner) by driving a current through it, whereas MagLIF on OMEGA relies on ablation pressure resulting from the laser irradiation of the outer surface of the cylinder, which is ten times smaller in linear dimensions than that used on Z, as illustrated in the figure. The experiments have conclusively demonstrated that the physics underlying the MagLIF concept is sound and scales as expected. The experiments have also highlighted preheat-induced mix as an area requiring further attention 3.
Illustration, to scale, of MagLIF on Z and OMEGA.
1 S. A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010).
2 D. H. Barnak et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 056310 (2017); J. R. Davies et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 062701 (2017); J. R. Davies et al., Phys. Plasmas 25, 062704 (2018); D. H. Barnak et al., Phys. Plasmas 27, 112709 (2020); E. C. Hansen et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 60, 054014 (2018);E. C. Hansen et al., Phys. Plasmas 25, 122701 (2018);J. W. Li et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 082707 (2013);E. C. Hansen et al., Phys. Plasmas 27, 062703 (2020).