High gain fusion in a Staged Z-pinch

The implosion of a Staged Z-pinch$\footnote{H. U. Rahman, F. J. Wessel, and N. Rostoker. Staged z-pinch. PRL, 74:714, 1995.}$ is simulated for the Sandia National Laboratories, ZR accelerator. The pinch is comprised of a silver (Ag) plasma shell, 3-mm outer radius, 0.01-cm thick, imploding onto a uniform fill (target) of deuterium-tritium (DT); the Z-R parameters are: 130 ns, 27 MA, 22 MJ; the 2-1/2 D, radiation-MHD code is MACH2. Magnetosonic shock waves generated during implosion propagate at different speeds in the liner and target, producing a shock front at the interface, and a conduction channel ahead of the liner. The interface remains stable even as the outer-surface of the liner is RT unstable. At peak compression target plasma hot spots trigger ignition with a fusion yield of 200 MJ and a net-energy gain approaching 10. The stability remains robust and the gain is unaffected for perturbations ranging from 2-5\%.