PLX-BETHE: Target Formation and Integrated Experiments for Plasma-Jet Driven Magneto-Inertial Fusion

An overview of research conducted in the Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX) BETHE collaboration is presented, encompassing experimental studies of supersonic spherically imploding plasma liners on PLX, development of compatible compact toroid (CT) target plasma formation and injection methods, and modeling and simulation efforts in support of the above. In addition, methods pursued to improve the synchronization and control of the 36 individual plasma jets on PLX, including high voltage triggering, individual gas puff injection control, and early-time wide-angle imaging, are discussed, and the impacts of these approaches on jet-to-jet timing and liner uniformity are presented.