Seedless magnetic field generation via ultraintense laser irradiation of an aluminum tetrafoil

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that a tetrafoil target irradiated by ultraintense lasers can generate and control strong magnetic fields without requiring an initial seed magnetic field, using 2D simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel tetrafoil target design that produces significant magnetic fields independently of seed fields, expanding magnetic field generation techniques.

Findings

Tetrafoil targets generate magnetic fields comparable to seeded MTI.

Configuration controls magnetic field direction.

Higher magnetic flux achieved without seed fields.

Abstract

Magnetic field generation and amplification techniques are popular due to their applications in several fields, including laboratory astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion. Microtube Implosion (MTI) is a scheme that amplifies a seed magnetic field by several orders of magnitude through ultraintense laser irradiation of solid targets. In this study, we conducted 2D EPOCH simulations to investigate the ability of a tetrafoil target to generate a magnetic field in the absence of a seed magnetic field. The results show that the tetrafoil target generates magnetic field intensities comparable to a hollow cylindrical aluminum target undergoing MTI with a 10kT seed. Furthermore, the configuration of the tetrafoil can be used to control the direction of the magnetic fields produced. The combined tetrafoil and microtube target sustained higher magnetic field and flux compared to both the microtube and tetrafoil targets, without the need for a seed magnetic field.