Measurements of Plasma Liner Parameters and Uniformity at the Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX)
POSTER
Abstract
The Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX) at LANL studies the formation and properties of supersonic spherically imploding plasma liners, used in the plasma-jet-driven magneto-inertial fusion (PJMIF) concept. The present campaign on PLX focuses on assessing recent system upgrades aimed at enabling an improved degree of liner uniformity by means of tuning each individual gun's parameters to account for systematic deviations. Here we provide initial results of various diagnostics over a range of operating conditions and over the entire implosion duration. These diagnostics include spatially resolved visible light spectroscopy to determine electron temperatures, multi-chord interferometry to determine line-integrated electron densities, and fast visible imaging to view both the individual jets' and liner's macroscopic characteristics. Comparisons of these properties will be made with simulations from the smooth particle hydrodynamics code SPFMax to better constrain the liner's overall uniformity and properties.
*This material was based upon the work supported, in part, by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), under Award No. DE-AR0001268. This manuscript has been authored in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory/Triad National Security, LLC, Contract No. 89233218CNA000001, with the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.
Presenters
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Andrew Lajoie
- Los Alamos National Laboratory