Magnetic fields can triple efficiency of laser-initiated fusion reactions

The world’s largest inertial confinement fusion experiment is based at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California. This device, however, uses a different design called “indirect drive” — in which lasers don’t heat the fuel capsule, but a surrounding hollow gold cylinder.

This causes the cylinder to glow with X-rays, which in turn heat the fuel capsule, causing it to implode and, from that point, setting off fusion in much the same way as the direct approach.

Trying to apply a strong magnetic field to the cylinder to boost the temperature of the reaction, however, would do more harm than good — as the field would induce destructive electric currents in the gold.

To get around this, however, Dr Moody and his colleagues set about trying to find a substitute alloy with a low electrical conductivity to replace the pure gold in the cylinder, finally settling on an alloy of gold and tantalum that can both emit X-rays when heated but also tolerate a high magnetic field.

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Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1702691/nuclear-fusion-inertial-confinement-magnetic-field-plasma-tripes-efficiency