Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) experiments on the Z accelerator rely on three components to bring fusion fuel to thermonuclear conditions: premagnetization of the deuterium-gas-filled cylindrical metallic tube or “liner”, deposition of laser energy into the deuterium gas, and adiabatic compression of the premagnetized preheated fuel via magnetically-driven radial implosion. Each of these components is essential for MagLIF and each is associated with pathways to improve MagLIF performance. The present state of MagLIF on Z incorporates numerous methodological and technological advancements associated with each component developed over the past decade. As a result of their implementation, MagLIF performance has increased along with detailed understanding of the MagLIF system through improved diagnostics and computational design methods. We describe some of these advancements, indicating how they were discovered and implemented as well as potential future research directions. Apart from the design improvements that have so far been tested in MagLIF experiments on Z, there are several innovative (perhaps higher risk) approaches being explored, each associated with potentially transformative benefits for MagLIF. We describe three of these innovative approaches and discuss progress towards evaluating them in MagLIF experiments on Z.
Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.
