FPN11-45

Magnetized Target Compression Demonstrated

August 30, 2011

Using the OMEGA laser facility at the University of Rochester, scientists have demonstrated enhancement of the fusion yield from a magnetized laser-driven target implosion. A magnetic field of 80 kG was placed around the target and subsequently trapped and compressed by imploding the conductive plasma. The observed ion temperature and fusion neutron yield were enhanced by 15% and 30%, respectively.

Although the magnet coil surrounding the target introduces an asymmetry that would normally interfere with obtaining a spherically symmetric implosion, a spherical compression was nevertheless achieved using the relatively new technique known as polar direct drive.

The results bode well for other techniques for the fusion concept known as Magnetized Target Fusion, which are being studied at Los Alamos National Laboratory and elsewhere.

The results are published in the July 15, 2011 issue of Physical Review Letters. The authors are P.Y. Chang, G. Fiksel, M. Hohenberger, J. Pl Knauer, R. Betti, F. J. Marshall, D. D. Meyerhofer (all from U. Rochester) and F. H. Seguin and R. D. Petrasso (MIT). Copies of the paper are available on request from Fusion Power Associates.