Powerflow Modeling for Pacific Fusion’s Demonstration System

Petawatt class pulsed power is a promising technology to drive targets for inertial fusion energy because of its potential for efficiently delivering stored energy to the fusion target. Power efficiency depends on both how the initial pulse is generated and losses in the transport of the prime power to the primary load region. We present 2D and 3D electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations using the CHICAGO^TM code of power delivery for Pacific Fusion’s Demonstration System, with a focus on energy transport efficiency in the vacuum section. These simulations are fully relativistic, and include electron and ion emission from the electrodes, as well as plasmas formed from surface contaminants. Results will be presented on the efficacy of delivering a 100 ns, > 60 MA pulse to a fusion target.