Distributively induced quasispherical implosion for fusion.

Abstract

Inertial confinement of fusion plasmas can be realized using the dynamic Z pinch, an electromagnetically driven cylindrical implosion system that is also used to generate intense x rays. However, the Z pinch is subject to magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instability, which must be suppressed for practical applications. This article proposes an innovative technique in which a distributively induced current is superimposed on a Z pinch to realize a quasispherical implosion (QSI) while also simultaneously maintaining significant suppression of the MRT instability. The advantages of the QSI and the improved stability enable a potential in inertial confinement fusion. An analytical model is developed that considers both the implosion dynamics and the instability development process, and the model's results confirm the advantages of the proposed scheme. This model is also applicable to a wide range of general implosion scenarios for arbitrary rotational surfaces, including QSI, and can degenerate to both standard cylindrical and spherical implosions.