Experimental evidence for collisional shock formation via two obliquely merging supersonic plasma jets

Merritt, E. C.; Moser, Auna; Hsu, S. C.; Adams, C. S.; Dunn, J. P.; Holgado, A. M.; Gilmore, M.

doi:10.1063/1.4872323

Cited by 44 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(62 reference statements)

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“…These phenomena are ubiquitous in astrophysical plasmas, and have formed the focus of a number of recent high energy density physics (HEDP) and laboratory astrophysics experiments. [1][2][3][4] This paper presents a suite of laser-based diagnostics that have been developed in order to study the interactions of high temperature, supersonic, magnetized, high atomic number plasma flows. These flows are produced using the Magpie 5 pulsed power generator at Imperial College (1.4 MA, 240 ns); the flows are accelerated by the J × B forces that arise due to the interaction of the current conducted by the plasma with the associated selfmagnetic field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnosing collisions of magnetized, high energy density plasma flows using a combination of collective Thomson scattering, Faraday rotation, and interferometry (invited)

Swadling

Lebedev

Hall

et al. 2014

Review of Scientific Instruments

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnosing collisions of magnetized, high energy density plasma flows using a combination of collective Thomson scattering, Faraday rotation, and interferometry (invited)

Swadling

Lebedev

Hall

et al. 2014

Review of Scientific Instruments

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“…A 2.7-meter diameter spherical vacuum chamber is the centerpiece of the plasma liner experiment (PLX) at LANL, which has also conducted basic plasma shock experiments [19,20,36,37] using two plasma railguns that were developed by HyperV Technologies Corporation. The PLX team will conduct 36-60 coaxial-gun experiments that aim to address the key MIF-relevant scientific issues of spherically imploding plasma liners as a standoff driver.…”

Section: Recent Progressmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…LANL also leads a team that is exploring a standoff concept of using a spherically convergent array of gun-driven plasma jets to Fig. 1 Many of the MIF concepts presently being explored in the USA achieve assembly and implosion of a plasma liner (PLX) without the need to destroy material liners or transmission lines on each shot [17][18][19][20]. A private company, general fusion (GF) in Canada, with many Americans working for it, is developing a merging compact toroid plasma source and envisions repetitively fired acoustic drivers that would drive a liquid liner compression of a magnetized target [21][22][23].…”

Section: Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magneto-Inertial Fusion

et al. 2015

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In this community white paper, we describe an approach to achieving fusion which employs a hybrid of elements from the traditional magnetic and inertial fusion concepts, called magneto-inertial fusion (MIF). The status of MIF research in North America at multiple institutions is summarized including recent progress, research opportunities, and future plans.Keywords Magneto-inertial fusion Á Magnetized target fusion Á Liner Á Plasma jets Á Fusion energy Á MagLIF DescriptionMagneto-inertial fusion (MIF) (aka magnetized target fusion) [1][2][3] is an approach to fusion that combines the compressional heating of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) with the magnetically reduced thermal transport and magnetically enhanced alpha heating of magnetic confinement fusion (MCF). From an MCF perspective, the higher density, shorter confinement times, and compressional heating as the dominant heating mechanism reduce the impact of instabilities. From an ICF perspective, the primary benefits are potentially orders of magnitude reduction in the difficult to achieve qr parameter (areal density), and potentially significant reduction in velocity requirements and hydrodynamic instabilities for compression drivers. In fact, ignition becomes theoretically possible from qr B 0.01 g/cm 2 up to conventional ICF values of qr * 1.0 g/cm 2 , and as in MCF, Br rather than qr becomes the key figure-of-merit for ignition because of the enhanced alpha deposition [4]. Within the lower-qr parameter space, MIF exploits lower required implosion velocities (2-100 km/s, compared to the ICF minimum of 350-400 km/s) allowing the use of much more efficient (g C 0.3) pulsed power drivers, while at the highest (i.e., ICF) end of the qr range, both higher gain G at a given implosion velocity as well as lower implosion velocity and reduced hydrodynamic instabilities are theoretically possible. To avoid confusion, it must be emphasized that the wellknown conventional ICF burn fraction formula does not apply for the lower-qr ''liner-driven'' MIF schemes, since it is the much larger mass and qr of the liner (and not that of the burning fuel) that determines the ''dwell time'' and fuel burnup fraction. In all cases, MIF approaches seek to satisfy/ exceed the inertial fusion energy (IFE) figure-of-merit gG * 7-10 required in an economical plant with reasonable recirculating power fraction. A great advantage of MIF is indeed its extremely wide parameter space which allows it greater versatility in overcoming difficulties in implementation or technology, as evidenced by the four diverse approaches and associated implosion velocities shown in Fig. 1.MIF approaches occupy an attractive region in thermonuclear q-T parameter space, as shown in a paper by

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“…23 Most recent publications deal with a formation of a shock front inside the collision zone. 14,24,25 It is not yet totally clear if both plasma sheaths stagnates fully in each other. Thus the points for the collision zone only show the positions of the maximum values and does not give any remarks if the sheaths fully stagnate.…”

Section: B Plasma Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron density and plasma dynamics of a colliding plasma experiment

et al. 2016

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We present experimental results of two head-on colliding plasma sheaths accelerated by pulsed-power-driven coaxial plasma accelerators. The measurements have been performed in a small vacuum chamber with a neutral-gas prefill of ArH2 at gas pressures between 17 Pa and 400 Pa and load voltages between 4 kV and 9 kV. As the plasma sheaths collide, the electron density is significantly increased. The electron density reaches maximum values of ≈8 ⋅ 1015 cm−3 for a single accelerated plasma and a maximum value of ≈2.6 ⋅ 1016 cm−3 for the plasma collision. Overall a raise of the plasma density by a factor of 1.3 to 3.8 has been achieved. A scaling behavior has been derived from the values of the electron density which shows a disproportionately high increase of the electron density of the collisional case for higher applied voltages in comparison to a single accelerated plasma. Sequences of the plasma collision have been taken, using a fast framing camera to study the plasma dynamics. These sequences indicate a maximum collision velocity of 34 km/s.

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Experimental evidence for collisional shock formation via two obliquely merging supersonic plasma jets

Cited by 44 publications

References 48 publications

Diagnosing collisions of magnetized, high energy density plasma flows using a combination of collective Thomson scattering, Faraday rotation, and interferometry (invited)

Diagnosing collisions of magnetized, high energy density plasma flows using a combination of collective Thomson scattering, Faraday rotation, and interferometry (invited)

Magneto-Inertial Fusion

Electron density and plasma dynamics of a colliding plasma experiment

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