Three-dimensional extended-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the stagnation phase of inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments at the National Ignition Facility are presented, showing selfgenerated magnetic fields over 10 4 T. Angular high mode-number perturbations develop large magnetic fields, but are localized to the cold, dense hot-spot surface, which is hard to magnetize. When low-mode perturbations are also present, the magnetic fields are injected into the hot core, reaching significant magnetizations, with peak local thermal conductivity reductions greater than 90%. However, Righi-Leduc heat transport effectively cools the hot spot and lowers the neutron spectra-inferred ion temperatures compared to the unmagnetized case. The Nernst effect qualitatively changes the results by demagnetizing the hot-spot core, while increasing magnetizations at the edge and near regions of large heat loss.
Extended-magnetohydrodynamics transports magnetic flux and electron energy in high-energy-density experiments, but individual transport effects remain unobserved experimentally. Two factors are responsible in defining the transport: electron temperature and electron current. Each electron energy transport term has a direct analogue in magnetic flux transport. To measure the thermally-driven transport of magnetic flux and electron energy, a simple experimental configuration is explored computationally using a laser-heated pre-magnetised under-dense plasma. Changes to the laser heating profile precipitate clear diagnostic signatures from the Nernst, cross-gradient-Nernst, anisotropic conduction and Righi-Leduc heat-flow. With a wide operating parameter range, this configuration can be used in both small and large scale facilities to benchmark MHD and kinetic transport in collisional/semi-collisional, local/non-local and magnetised/unmagnetised regimes.
Pre-magnetisation of inertial confinement fusion implosions on the National Ignition Facility has the potential to raise current high-performing targets into the ignition regime [Perkins et al. "The potential of imposed magnetic fields for enhancing ignition probability and fusion energy yield in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion," Phys. Plasmas 24, 062708 (2017)]. A key concern with this method is that the application of a magnetic field inherently increases asymmetry. This paper uses 3-D extended-magnetohydrodynamics Gorgon simulations to investigate how thermal conduction suppression, the Lorentz force, and a-particle magnetisation affect three hot-spot perturbation scenarios: a cold fuel spike, a time-dependent radiation drive asymmetry, and a multi-mode perturbation. For moderate magnetisations (B 0 ¼ 5 T), the single spike penetrates deeper into the hot-spot, as thermal ablative stabilisation is reduced. However, at higher magnetisations (B 0 ¼ 50 T), magnetic tension acts to stabilise the spike. While magnetisation of a-particle orbits increases the peak hot-spot temperature, no impact on the perturbation penetration depth is observed. The P4-dominated radiation drive asymmetry demonstrates the anisotropic nature of the thermal ablative stabilisation modifications, with perturbations perpendicular to the magnetic field penetrating deeper and perturbations parallel to the field being preferentially stabilised by increased heat-flows. Moderate magnetisations also increase the prevalence of high modes, while magnetic tension reduces vorticity at the hot-spot edge for larger magnetisations. For a simulated high-foot experiment, the yield doubles through the application of a 50 T magnetic field-an amplification which is expected to be larger for higher-performing configurations.
Simulations anticipate increased perturbation growth from nonuniform laser heating for magnetized directdrive implosions. At the capsule pole, where the magnetic field is normal to the ablator surface, the field remains in the conduction zone and suppresses non-radial thermal conduction; in unmagnetized implosions this non-radial heat-flow is crucial in mitigating laser heating imbalances. Single-mode simulations show the magnetic field particularly amplifying short wavelength perturbations, whose behavior is dominated by thermal conduction. The most unstable wavelength can also become shorter. 3D multi-mode simulations of the capsule pole reinforce these findings, with increased perturbation growth anticipated across a wide range of scales. The results indicate that high-gain spherical direct-drive implosions require greater constraints on the laser heating uniformity when magnetized.
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