LABORATORY SIMULATION OF ICF-ENERGY AND PLASMA MOMENTUM CONVERSIONS IN A LASER FUSION ROCKET WITH DIPOLE-LIKE MAGNETIC FIELD

摘要

The main idea of direct and high-effective usage of thermonuclear micro-explosions in propulsion of future interplanetary spacecraft like a VISTA is based on applying a strong non-uniform magnetic field as magnetic thrust chamber at the axis of which ICF-pellet with D/He~3-like fuel is ignited The anisotropical deceleration of diamagnetic cloud of ICF-plasma under such conditions leads to appearance of its directed motion away and generation of EMF in pick-up coils, therefore some part of initial plasma impulse and energy could be directly transferred by magnetic field disturbances to spacecraft for supplying its acceleration and power of laser driver. According to well-known ideal MHD and PIC calculations the efficiency of such conversion processes could achieve a very high level up to 60/80%, but the question is in what extent those results could be influenced by the real plasma dynamics and conductivity governed by its various micro-and macro-instabilities, i.e. flutes. To study this problem two types of simulative experiments on quasi-spherical expansion of "usual" Laser Plasma into the dipole and uniform magnetic fields ～1kG at kJ-laser facility KI-1 of ILP had been conducted for the first time under conditions of dimensionless criteria close to future ICF-facility ones.