Abstract:
The LM26 device has achieved a peak electron temperature of Te = 1180±65 eV as measured by
filtered X-ray diodes, supported by adjacent Thomson scattering measurements of Te = 1090±40 eV,
with a deuterium ion temperature of Ti = 459 ± 33 eV as inferred from neutron yield. LM26 compresses
a spherical tokamak plasma inside an initially 1.76 m diameter solid lithium liner imploded
by theta-pinch coils. Radial compression by a factor of 2.75 increases Te over fivefold, while Ti
increases as much as twofold. The integrated observation of magnetic flux compression, electron
heating, ion heating, and neutron production in a magnetized plasma compressed by a large lithium
liner is an important milestone for magnetized target fusion.
S. J. Howard, D. Krotez, P. Carle, J. Sanchez Rojo, R. Underwood, A. Froese, Reynolds, N. Sirmas, K. Conquergood, K. Epp, P. Forysinski, D. Plant, R. Zindler, Love, D. P. Brennan, N. Kumar, C. Macdonald, A. Wong, W. Zawalski, B. Rablah, Kozicki, C. Preston, A. Lee, X. Feng, M. Schellenberg-Beaver, R. Tingley, Gorenstein, V. Suponitsky, Z. Seifollahi Moghadam, D. Froese, E. Cessford, J. Pratt, Crofts, J. Sardari, G. Faust, D. Ross, J. Wilkie, S. Bernard, C. Connor, S. Bolanos, Gutjahr, E. Chan, C. Eyrich, A. Mahoney, M. Davidson, and M. Laberge