2024/11/15 by Walsh, C. A., Strozzi, D. J., Povilus, A. +7 · 1 citation
#Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2411.10538
This paper explores 4 different magnetic field topologies for application to spherical inertial confinement fusion implosions: axial, mirror, cusp and closed field lines. A mirror field is found to enhance the impact of magnetization over an axial field; this is because the mirror field more closely follows the hot-spot surface. A cusp field, while simple to generate, is not found to have any benefits over the tried-and-tested axial field. Closed field lines are found to be of the greatest benefit to hot-spot performance, with the simulated design undergoing a 2x increase in ion temperature before alpha-heating is considered. The plasma properties of the simulation with closed field lines are radically different from the unmagnetized counterpart, with electron temperatures in excess of 100 keV, suggesting that a fundamental redesign of the capsule implosion is possible if this method is pursued.