Studying Gas Puff Xe Liner Staged Z-Pinch stability with FLASH simulations*

The staged Z-pinch (SZP) is a pulsed-power–driven magneto inertial fusion concept under development at Magneto-Inertial Fusion Technology, Inc. (MIFTI). A new study has been focused onto a setup including a low-density gas-puff Xe liner, driven by the pulsed-power Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories, imploding on DT fuel. In particular, 1D FLASH simulations in cylindrical coordinates gave hope to achieve fuel ion temperatures > 15 keV and compression ratios (CR) > 300. Here, we show that the new capabilities of FLASH have made it possible to simulate this experiment in 2D, including magneto-Rayleigh Taylor instability (MRTI) growth. This inevitably caused those values to decrease in previous Z-pinches configurations. Here we present new results that support the viability of FLASH SZP simulations, and that shed light on potential stabilization of MRTI, by an applied axial magnetic field or modifications on the liner density profile, in order to make such an experiment plausible for fusion. Finally, first 3D simulations of this gas-puff Xe liner SZP are shown to illustrate the brand-new capabilities of the FLASH code.