Status of NDCX-II, a short-pulse ion accelerator for ion beam-driven physics studies

Construction of the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II (NDCX-II) is underway at LBNL; completion is due March, 2012. This ion induction accelerator will enable studies of Warm Dense Matter and basic target physics for heavy-ion-driven Inertial Fusion Energy. NDCX-II compresses and accelerates a 20-50 nC Li+ pulse to 1.2-3 MeV, then shortens it to sub-ns duration in a neutralizing plasma and focuses it onto a target.\footnote{A. Friedman, et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056704 (2010).} Extensive simulations optimized the design and adapted it to induction waveforms generated on a test stand; ensembles of runs established tolerances and expected performance. NDCX-II is extensible and reconfigurable; we describe the baseline design and variants, and the status of the project.