Physics Criteria for a Subscale Plasma Liner Experiment

TL;DR

This paper defines the physics criteria and parameter space for a subscale plasma liner experiment using merging plasma jets, aiming to gather data relevant for achieving fusion conditions with full-scale plasma liners.

Contribution

It introduces specific physics criteria and estimates the minimum energy and mass needed for a subscale plasma liner experiment to inform fusion research.

Findings

Identified key physics criteria for plasma liner formation.

Estimated minimum kinetic energy and mass for the experiment.

Designed a subscale experiment based on these criteria.

Abstract

Spherically imploding plasma liners, formed by merging hypersonic plasma jets, are a proposed standoff driver to compress magnetized target plasmas to fusion conditions [S. C. Hsu et al., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 40, 1287 (2012)]. In this paper, the parameter space and physics criteria are identified for a subscale, plasma-liner-formation experiment to provide data, e.g., on liner ram-pressure scaling and uniformity, that are relevant for addressing scientific issues of full-scale plasma liners required to achieve fusion conditions. Based on these criteria, we quantitatively estimate the minimum liner kinetic energy and mass needed, which informed the design of a subscale plasma liner experiment now under development.