High-energy-density plasma

High-energy-density plasma is ionized matter at energy densities high enough to produce extreme pressures and temperatures. It occurs in laboratory experiments and astrophysical environments.

Connect

Inertial confinement fusion: A fusion approach that compresses and heats a fuel capsule rapidly using intense drivers. Its imploding fuel capsules create brief, extremely dense plasmas.
Plasma: An ionized gas containing free charged particles that exhibits collective electromagnetic behavior. High-energy-density plasma is an extreme regime of this broader state of matter.
Magnetized liner inertial fusion: A fusion scheme that compresses magnetized fuel with an imploding metal liner. It combines magnetic insulation and compression to create high-energy-density fuel.
National Ignition Facility: A large laser facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory designed for inertial confinement fusion experiments. Its experiments create and study some of the highest-energy-density matter made in laboratories.
Inertial confinement fusion ignition: A self-sustaining fusion burn in an inertially confined fuel assembly, with fusion energy exceeding energy delivered to the target. Ignition depends on accurately predicting the plasma’s compression, heating, and losses.
Laser–plasma interaction: The exchange of energy and momentum between intense laser light and ionized matter. It governs how laser energy is absorbed and transported in many experiments.
Ionization: The process by which atoms or molecules gain or lose electrons and become charged. The degree of ionization shapes the plasma’s conductivity and radiation.
Warm dense matter: Matter at high density and moderate temperature, between condensed matter and ideal plasma regimes. It occupies a closely related regime where ordinary plasma models often fail.
Z Pulsed Power Facility: A Sandia National Laboratories facility that uses intense electrical pulses to generate X-rays and compress matter. Its pulsed-power experiments produce dense plasmas and radiation-driven implosions.
Plasma instability: A growing disturbance in a plasma that changes its structure or dynamics. Instabilities can disrupt compression and reduce energy confinement.