High-current ion beam induction linac for inertial confinement fusion

At present, several methods of obtaining high-current ion beam, which are based on the use of induction accelerators and are applied to inertial controlled fusion (ICF) research, are being considered [1–3]. To date, kiloampere ion beams with energies of several hundred keV have been produced in high-current linear induction accelerators (linac) with collective focusing [4–6]. The power of HHCIBs for ICF purposes must be several orders greater, with rather stringent requirements on beam brightness. Therefore, when developing a driver for ICF on the basis of a high-current linac, it is necessary to investigate a number of important physical problems: (1) the formation of high-current beams in injector; (2) the provision of efficient magnetic insulation for accelerating gaps; (3) charge compensation of the ion beam in the transport channel and in the magneto-insulated accelerating gaps; (4) effective acceleration and stability of the ion beam in accelerating channel; and (5) transport, focusing, and space-time compression of HHCIBs.