Plasma-driven liners

The deposition of thermal energy by laser or ion beams in an ablator is capable of producing a very large acceleration of the adjacent pusher - for power densities of 100 Terrawatts/cm2, ablator pressure in the range of 10 Mbar is attainable. In the case of a plasma drive such driving pressures and accelerations are not directly possible. When a snowplough (SP) is used to accelerate a thin liner, the driving pressure is that of the magnetic piston pushing the SP, i.e. at most 0.1 Mbar. However, the initial radius r0 of the liner can be a few centimeters, instead of 1 (mm) as in the case in direct pellet implosions. In order to compete with the performance of the beam-driven liners, the plasma drive must demonstrate that a) thin liner retains a high density during the implosion (lasting a fraction of a μsec); b) radial compression ratio r0/rmin of the order of 100 can be attained. It is also attractive to consider the staging of two or more liners in order to get sharpening and amplifications of the pressure and/or radiation pulse. If a) and b) are verified then the final pressures produced will be comparable with those of the beam-driven implosions. (author) 5 refs., 3 figs