Publications

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Magnetic Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) [S. A. Slutz, et al., Phys. Plasmas 17 056303 (2010)] is a promising new concept for achieving >100 kJ of fusion yield on Z. The greatest threat to this concept is the Magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instability. Thus an experimental campaign has been initiated to study MRT growth in fast-imploding (<100 ns) cylindrical liners. The first sets of experiments studied aluminum liner implosions with prescribed sinusoidal perturbations (see talk by D. Sinars). By contrast, this poster presents results from the latest sets of experiments that used unperturbed beryllium (Be) liners. The purpose for using Be is that we are able to radiograph 'through' the liner using the 6-keV photons produced by the Z-Beamlet backlighting system. This has enabled us to obtain time-resolved measurements of the imploding liner's density as a function of both axial and radial location throughout the field of view. This data is allowing us to evaluate the integrity of the inside (fuel-confining) surface of the imploding liner as it approaches stagnation.

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Recent experiments on the refurbished Z-machine were conducted using large diameter stainless steel arrays which produced x-ray powers of 260 TW. Follow-up experiments were then conducted utilizing tungsten wires with approximately the same total mass with the hypothesis that the total x-ray power would increase. On the large diameter tungsten experiments, the x-ray power averaged over 300 TW and the total x-ray energy was greater than 2MJ. Different analysis techniques for inferring the x-ray power will be described in detail.

AASC is designing multiple-shell gas puff loads for Z. Here we assess the influence of the loads initial gas distribution on its K-shell yield performance. Emphasis is placed on designing an optimal central jet initial gas distribution, since it is believed to have a controlling effect on pinch stability, pinch conditions, and radiation physics. We are looking at distributions that optimize total Ar K-shell emission and high energy (>10 KeV) continuum radiation. This investigation is performed with the Mach2 MHD code with non-LTE kinetics and ray trace based radiation transport.

Fast z-pinches provide intense 1-10 keV photon energy radiation sources. Here, we analyze time-, space-, and spectrally-resolved {approx}2 keV K-shell emissions from Al (5% Mg) wire array implosions on Sandia's Z machine pulsed power driver. The stagnating plasma is modeled as three separate radial zones, and collisional-radiative modeling with radiation transport calculations are used to constrain the temperatures and densities in these regions, accounting for K-shell line opacity and Doppler effects. We discuss plasma conditions and dynamics at the onset of stagnation, and compare inferences from the atomic modeling to three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic simulations.

Numerical simulations [S.A. Slutz et al Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] indicate that fuel magnetization and preheat could enable cylindrical liner implosions to become an efficient means to generate fusion conditions. A series of simulations has been performed to study the stability of magnetically driven liner implosions. These simulations exhibit the initial growth and saturation of an electro-thermal instability. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability further amplifies the resultant density perturbations developing a spectrum of modes initially peaked at short wavelengths. With time the spectrum of modes evolves towards longer wavelengths developing an inverse cascade. The effects of mode coupling, the radial dependence of the magnetic pressure, and the initial surface roughness will be discussed.

A series of experiments at the Z Accelerator was performed with 40mm and 50mm diameter nested wire arrays to investigate the interaction of the arrays and assess radiative characteristics. These arrays were fielded with one array as Al:Mg (either the inner or the outer array) and the other array as Ni-clad Ti (the outer or inner array, with respect to location of the Al:Mg). In all the arrays, the mass and radius ratio of the outer:inner was 2:1. The wire number ratio was also 2:1 in some cases, but the Al:Mg wire number was increased in some loads. This presentation will focus on analysis of the emitted radiation (in multiple photon energy bins) and measured plasma conditions (as inferred from x-ray spectra). A discussion on what these results indicate about nested array dynamics will also be presented.

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Spatially and temporally resolved X-ray emission lines contain information about temperatures, densities, velocities, and the gradients in a plasma. Extracting this information from optically thick lines emitted from complex ions in dynamic, three-dimensional, non-LTE plasmas requires self-consistent accounting for both non-LTE atomic physics and non-local radiative transfer. We present a brief description of a hybrid-structure spectroscopic atomic model coupled to an iterative tabular on-the-spot treatment of radiative transfer that can be applied to plasmas of arbitrary material composition, conditions, and geometries. The effects of Doppler line shifts on the self-consistent radiative transfer within the plasma and the emergent emission and absorption spectra are included in the model. Sample calculations for a two-level atom in a uniform cylindrical plasma are given, showing reasonable agreement with more sophisticated transport models and illustrating the potential complexity - or richness - of radially resolved emission lines from an imploding cylindrical plasma. Also presented is a comparison of modeled L- and K-shell spectra to temporally and radially resolved emission data from a Cu:Ni plasma. Finally, some shortcomings of the model and possible paths for improvement are discussed.

This final report for Project 117863 summarizes progress made toward understanding how X-pinch load designs scale to high currents. The X-pinch load geometry was conceived in 1982 as a method to study the formation and properties of bright x-ray spots in z-pinch plasmas. X-pinch plasmas driven by 0.2 MA currents were found to have source sizes of 1 micron, temperatures >1 keV, lifetimes of 10-100 ps, and densities >0.1 times solid density. These conditions are believed to result from the direct magnetic compression of matter. Physical models that capture the behavior of 0.2 MA X pinches predict more extreme parameters at currents >1 MA. This project developed load designs for up to 6 MA on the SATURN facility and attempted to measure the resulting plasma parameters. Source sizes of 5-8 microns were observed in some cases along with evidence for high temperatures (several keV) and short time durations (<500 ps).