Characterization of Supersonic Spherically Imploding Plasma Liners on PLX*

The Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX) at Los Alamos National Laboratory is a mid-size experimental facility that has been built to explore the idea of using a spherically imploding plasma liner, formed via the merging of discrete plasma jets, as a transformative driver for magneto-inertial fusion. [1] We present results from PLX with fully spherical plasma liner implosions, formed from an array of 36 plasma jets. Prior investigations on PLX have studied the merging of smaller numbers of plasma jets, and indicated the significance of inter-jet streaming and interpenetration between merging jets, and the possible impact of density perturbations due to shock waves between the jets. We will present experimental characterization of the plasma liner convergence, symmetry, and stagnation morphology, informing the potential for integrated plasma compression experiments to be driven by the facility.

[1] Hsu, Scott C., et al. ”Spherically imploding plasma liners as a standoff driver for magnetoinertial fusion.” IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 40.5 (2012): 1287-1298.

We acknowledge the contributions of the many scientists and personnel in the broader team and plasma physics community who have contributed to the PLX program.