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Updated: Sep 21, 2025

A 100 KW Class Applied-field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster
Published on: December 22, 2018
Effect of Strongly Magnetized Electrons and Ions on Heat Flow and Symmetry of Inertial Fusion Implosions
A Bose1,2, J Peebles3, C A Walsh4
1Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
This Letter presents the first observation on how a strong, 500 kG, externally applied B field increases the mode-two asymmetry in shock-heated inertial fusion implosions. Using a direct-drive implosion with polar illumination and imposed field, we observed that magnetization produces a significant increase in the implosion oblateness (a 2.5× larger P2 amplitude in x-ray self-emission images) compared with reference experiments with identical drive but with no field applied. The implosions produce strongly magnetized electrons (ω_{e}τ_{e}≫1) and ions (ω_{i}τ_{i}>1) that, as shown using simulations, restrict the cross field heat flow necessary for lateral distribution of the laser and shock heating from the implosion pole to the waist, causing the enhanced mode-two shape.
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