Current status of the ECLAIR magneto-inertial fusion concept exploration experiment.*

ECLAIR is a new experiment under construction designed to investigate the Helicity Drive magneto-inertial fusion concept [1]. Helicity Drive operates in four sequential steps: (a) formation of multiple magnetized plectonemic Taylor states embedded inside stable helical shear flow jets; (b) merging of the Taylor states into a single magnetized plasma jet heated via magnetic reconnection; (c) peristaltic compression of the merged jet to fusion conditions; (d) peristaltic expansion of the burning plasma to produce thrust and electrical power. This proof-of-concept machine includes four custom triple electrode plasma guns adapted from the precursor MOCHI experiment design [2]. The guns aim towards one focal point to promote reconnection-heating of the four plectonemes [3] at the inlet of the peristaltic magnetic nozzle. The magnetic nozzle consists of 20 Bitter-type coils connected in a transmission line setup [4] to peristaltically compress the preheated plasma. We have fired all four guns at a common vertex and completed the initial test of the magnetic nozzle. We will present the status of ongoing operational campaigns to measure the density, temperature, velocity, and magnetic field structure [5] of the plasma as the jets evolve through the four stages of formation, merging, compression, and exhaust.