The Z-pinch is one of the most well-studied methods for high energy density plasma generation. Z-pinches have been used for applications such as thermonuclear fusion and as intense xray sources. The High Energy Density Physics Group at UC San Diego has an extensive experimental and modeling program across a variety of Z-pinch devices. The focus in this presentation is on gas puff Z-pinches and Dense Plasma Focus (DPF). These devices are highly susceptible to the Magneto RayleighTaylor Instability during the implosion which can disrupt the plasma column. Experiments were conducted on the CESZAR linear transformer driver (LTD) with ~500 kA, 160 ns current pulses in a gas puff configuration. The effect of varying gas species was studied using metrics like instability amplitude and energy coupling. We demonstrate that low-impedance LTDs can implode a variety of gas puff loads with an energy coupling efficiency of ~10%. 2-D magnetohydrodynamic simulations of Ne-liner, deuterium-target gas-puff loads show that the tradeoff between stability and yield can be reduced by density profile tailoring – adding a second liner. Work on DPFs has focused on a 4.4 kJ, 280 kA DPF at UCSD and the 2 MJ, 2-3 MA Gemini DPF at the Nevada Test Site. Experiments on the UCSD DPF have shown a significant effect of insulator surface conditioning on x-ray production. The Gemini experiments focused on rare gas additions to deuterium. MHD simulations of the Gemini DPF provide evidence of an increasing fusion yield and tighter current sheaths with increased dopant concentration.

Co-sponsored by: MIPSE and SEM NPSS

Speaker(s): Prof. Farhat Beg,

Bldg: 1311 EECS, 1301 Beal Ave, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/301398