A 200 km/s Plasma Accelerator for Magneto-Inertial Fusion and for Refueling Magnetic Fusion

75823-In magneto-inertial fusion, which offers the promise of a faster, lower cost path to fusion energy, a material liner is imploded to compress a magnetized target plasma to fusion conditions. In one approach, plasma-jet-driven magneto-inertial fusion, an array of pulsed plasma guns is utilized to create a spherically-imploding shell of very high- velocity, high-momentum flux plasma. This approach requires the development of plasma accelerators capable of achieving velocities of 200 km/s, with very precise timing and density profiles. This project will investigate a new coaxial plasma accelerator configuration, which will allow the acceleration of high density collisional plasmas to velocities of 200 km/s. To control and prevent the formation of deleterious instabilities, such as the blowby instability, a specialized plasma injection system will be developed. Phase I will involve computational modeling and theoretical design analysis of the proposed coaxial plasma accelerator concept, followed by the design of an experiment to develop and diagnose the plasma injector. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: In addition to the application for magneto-inertial fusion, the plasma jets should have application to the refueling of magnetically confined plasmas, high-specific-impulse plasma thrusters for space, laboratory simulations of astrophysical jets, very fast high current switches for pulsed power applications, and materials processing.