Magnetic booster fast ignition macron accelerator

A new fast ignition scheme was recently proposed where the ignition is done by the impact of a small solid projectile accelerated to velocities in excess of 108 cm/s, with the acceleration done in two steps: first, by laser ablation of a flyer plate, and second by injecting the flyer plate into a conical duct. The two principal difficulties of this scheme are as follows: first, the required large mass ratio for the laser ablation rocket propelled flyer plate, and second, the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of the flyer plate during its implosive compression in the conical duct. To overcome these difficulties, it is suggested to accelerate a projectile by a magnetic fusion booster stage, made up of a dense, wall-confined magnetized plasma brought to thermonuclear temperatures. After ignition, this plasma undergoes a thermonuclear excursion greatly increasing its pressure, resulting in the explosion of a weakened segment of the wall, with the segment becoming a fast moving projectile. The maximum velocity this projectile can reach is the velocity of sound of the booster stage plasma, which at a temperature of 108 K is of the order 108 cm/s