MIFEDS

MIFEDS (magneto-inertial fusion electrical discharge system) is used to apply an external magnetic field to experiments on OMEGA and OMEGA EP. Housed in a standard TIM (ten-inch manipulator) diagnostic payload, MIFEDS is a pulsed-power device capable of delivering up to 50 kA to a custom coil payload. Applied fields in experiments have reached over 50 T in the region of interest, depending on configuration. There are three units, allowing use on both OMEGA and OMEGA EP, and use of dual MIFEDS on a single experiment. MIFEDS has been used to study magneto-inertial fusion [magnetized ICF and MagLIF pages], magnetic reconnection, magnetized shocks, magnetized plasma jets, collimation and trapping of positrons, magnetized plasma transport, optimization of laser plasma hard x-ray sources, and magnetized laser–plasma interaction physics. A nextgeneration system (gen 3) is nearly ready for deployment. MIFEDS gen 3 increases the stored energy from 250 J to 2.25 kJ and has produced magnetic fields of 80 T in laboratory tests. The MIFEDS lab provides calibration, repair, and maintenance support. The lab houses a vacuum chamber where MIFEDS can be fired, along with additional measurement capabilities such as high-speed video to measure coil disassembly and Faraday rotation to measure magnetic field.