Experimental verification of the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) concept

Summary form only given. The Z Facility at Sandia National Laboratories consists of the Z Machine, a pulsed power driver capable of delivering 27 MA with a 100 ns risetime to a magnetically-driven load, and the Z Beamlet Laser (ZBL), which can deliver a 1 TW, 2 ns laser pulse at 532 nm to the center of the Z Machine. Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) is an inertial confinement fusion concept that is currently being evaluated on Z. MagLIF relies on ZBL to heat fusion fuel prior to the implosion, an axial magnetic field to inhibit radial thermal conduction in the fuel, and the Z machine current pulse to implode the target. Simulations indicate that MagLIF experiments could produce 100 kJ yields with parameters that will eventually be possible on Z, and high yield targets for a future facility have been evaluated in simulations. The first series of fully-integrated MagLIF experiments were conducted in November/December 2013. The nominal values for the applied B field, laser energy, and peak load current were 10 T, 2 kJ, and 20 MA, respectively, and the fuel was 0.6 mg/cm³ deuterium. For reference, the MagLIF point design calls for 30 T, 6-8 kJ, 30 MA, and 3 mg/cm³ DT fuel. In these initial experiments, a relatively uniform stagnation column with radius <; 100 microns and height > 5 mm was measured in self-emission. This implies a radial fuel convergence ratio on the order of 30. An electron temperature of 3-4 keV was inferred from continuum x-ray emission, and an ion temperature of ~ 3.5 keV was inferred from neutron time of flight data. The DD neutron yield was on the order of 1e12, and the secondary DT neutron yield was on the order of 3e10. In the fully-integrated experiments, the DD yield increased by a factor of more than 200 over liner implosions without preheat and magnetization. Additional experiments are planned for March 2014.