Applications Overview | Technology | Basic Plasma Physics | Space Plasmas | Plasma Astrophysics Magnetic Confinement Fusion | High Energy Density Physics | Alternate Concepts for Fusion
Web Sites for high energy density physics and accelerators
The Z machine, Sandia National Laboratories
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
In high energy density experiments, multiple laser or particle beams are guided to converge on a small fusion fuel pellet or filament. Rapid compression leads to fusion conditions and ignition followed by efflux of energy exceeding the input which is called the energy gain. In the case of laser experiments such as NOVA or the National Ignition Facility (NIF), presently under construction, powerful laser beams enter holes and strike the inside wall of a 'hohlraum' which is a small cylinder containing a pea-size fusion fuel capsule. Laser energy heats the inside of the hohlraum creating x rays that surround the spherical capsule or target. The x rays rapidly heat the capsule inside the hohlraum (1) causing the capsule's surface to fly outward (2). This outward force causes an opposing inward force that compresses the fusion fuel (hydrogen isotopes) inside the capsule. When the compression reaches the center, temperatures increase to 100,000,000 degrees Centigrade, igniting the fusion fuel (3) and producing a laser fusion thermonuclear burn that generates fusion energy output many times the laser energy input, thus providing a large energy gain.
Inertial fusion science and applications has come to be referred to as 'inertial fusion energy' or IFE whereas 'inertial confinement fusion' or ICF denotes high energy density phenomena produced by either multiple, high-energy laser beams or energetic pulsed power systems.
The phrase 'high energy density physics' or HED is used here to refer inclusively to IFE, ICF and pulsed power systems. Accelerators for IFE or ICF application are also included here within HED. This web page includes lower-energy 'table-top' plasma accelerators as well.
Web Sites for high energy density physics and accelerators
U.S. Research Centers emphasizing high energy density physics and accelerators
- National Ignition Facility NIF, participants: GA, LLNL, LANL, NRL, Sandia, LLE Rochester
- Argonne Wakefield Accelerator, High Energy Physics, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois
laser-plasma wakefield acceleration research, experiment: wakefield accelerator AWA - General Atomics Fusion Group, General Atomics, San Diego, California
ICF research, target support, software: transport code ONETWO, equilibrium EFIT, data analysis 4D, equilibrium TOQ, experiments: ICF target support for five ICF laboratories - Accelerator and Fusion Research, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California
heavy ion inertial fusion (HIF) research, heavy ion fusion engineering R&D, plasma lens, ion source development, relativistic klystron, accelerator research, experiments: klystron two-beam accelerator RK-TBA - Lawrence Livermore Research Laboratory, Livermore, California
Physics and Space Technology Directorate
(V, X divisions) high-energy density physics, laboratory astrophysics, ultra-short pulse lasers, turbulence, plasma spectroscopy, tokamak spectroscopy, gamma-ray spectroscopy, plasma processing simulations, laser-plasma interactions
(H, V, X divisions) inertial confinement fusion research, NIF target design and hohlraum physics, plasma instabilities, plasma characterization, laser-plasma interactions, fast ignitor project, heavy ion fusion, X-ray lasers, pulsed power, sonoluminescence,
(N division) sonoluminescence, positron trapping, nonneutral plasmas
(Plasma Physics Research Institute - PPRI) plasma processing simulations, waves, instabilities, turbulence, laser-plasma interactions, medical laser-tissue interactions, plasma processing reactor, reduction of NO in diesel engine exhaust (B. Penetrante), experiments: National Ignition Facility NIF, NOVA laser system for ICF, TRIDENT laser driver electron beam ion trap, EBIT large-area plasma processing reactor, software: PIC, hybrid and fluid codes - Lasnex, ICF3D, Yorick (analysis of numerical data), plasma processing simulations, HULLAC codes
Science on Lasers LLNL
laser-plasma interactions, heavy ion fusion, inertial fusion energy, micropower impulse radar MIR - cardiovascular monitor, experiments, ion beam theory, simulation, experiment - Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos, New Mexico
Plasma Physics Group, P-24
laser matter-plasma interactions, plasma-based materials processing, inertial confinement fusion, magnetic fusion energy, high-energy density physics, weapons stockpile stewardship, pulsed power research, plasma spectroscopy, electron-positron plasmas, stimulated Raman and Brillouin scattering, parametric instabilities, ponderomotive effects, relativistic self-focusing and filamentation, laser beam channeling, experiments: Trident Laser facility, pulsed power facility,, plasma processing facility
Applied Physics Division, LANL, X-1 Plasma Physics
plasma physics applications, plasma processing, plasma etching feedback and control,weapons stockpile stewardship
LANL Fusion Energy Program Office
alternate concepts, magnetized target fusion, Penning fusion experiment - Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D.C.
laser plasma, pulsed power, beam physics, nonlinear plasma dynamics, plasma spectroscopy, dense plasma physics, pulsed power, strongly coupled and degenerate plasmas, high power laser development, compact accelerator using relativistic klystron concept, microwave sources, fast radar, diagnostics, electron beam generators, beam propagation, high energy density plasmas, high-power switching, plasma opening switch, high power pulsed systems and loads such as bremsstrahlung x-ray diodes and plasma radiation sources, ultra high field laser-plasma interactions, high frequency microwave research, coherent radiation sources (gyrotrons, cyclotron masers, free electron lasers), laser-plasma driven accelerators,beam transport simulations, large-scale numerical simulations,nuclear weapon effects, inductive energy storage, experiments: krypton-fluoride laser NIKE, dense Z-pinch, inductive storage PAWN, HAWK, pulse line generator Gamble II, high power relativistic klystron laboratory, high power gyrotron laboratory - Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
plasma-based work, especially strong in the area of
fusion research, pulsed power, stockpile stewardship, x-ray and gamma ray sources, high energy density physics, z pinches, hohlraum physics, shock physics, ion beam technology, pulsed power sources, nuclear survivability and hardness testing, radiation effects, hydrodynamic radiography, light-ion-beam inertial confinement fusion, materials processing, waste and product sterilization, food purification, diagnostics, modeling,
experiments: pulsed power x-ray source, - Microwave / Millimeter Wave Tech, Accelerators and Light Sources, Diagnostics UC Davis
- Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Dept of Physics University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
interaction of intense radiation with matter, implosion experiments, inertial confinement fusion), high energy density physics, plasma and fusion physics, superstrong matter-field interactions, laser-fusion plasmas, plasma hydrodynamics, nonlinear optics of plasmas, stimulated Raman and Brillouin scatting, nonlinear laser beam focusing, experiments: OMEGA laser system
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U.S. University Centers emphasizing high energy density physics and accelerators
- Dept of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California
(computational plasma physics group) plasma accelerators and light sources, laser plasma interactions, PIC simulations (particle beam physics lab) beam-plasma interaction, nonlinear plasma wake field acceleration - UCI Fusion Energy and Pulsed Power Research, University of California Irvine
colliding beam fusion reactor, field reversed configuration (FRC), high beta system - Plasma Accelerator Group, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California laser-plasma accelerator simulations, GeV wakefield acceleration, Cerenkov radiation source
- Center for Integrated Plasma Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
(particle accelerator group) nonlinear dynamics, application to plasma and beam physics - Laboratory of Plasma Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
fusion plasmas, pulsed power, electron and ion beams, plasma radiation, electromagnetics - Lasers, Electro-Optics, and Plasmas, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois fusion technology, plasma spectroscopy, discharge physics, pulsed power, computer simulations
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
high power microwave generation, plasma radiation, fluctuations, intense beam focusing and stability, heavy ion fusion, laser plasma interactions, charged particle transport, wave-particle interactions, diagnostics, laser fusion theory, free electron lasers, microwave generation, experiments: University of Maryland Electron Ring - Plasma Science & Fusion Center, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
laser-plasma interactions, ICF experiments, gyroton oscillators and amplifiers, high gradient electron acceleration, intense beam theory, experiments: LDX (with Columbia; year 2000) experimental accelerator research using RF gun, software: data analysis & acquisition MDS - Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Dept of Physics University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
interaction of intense radiation with matter, implosion experiments, inertial confinement fusion), high energy density physics, plasma and fusion physics, superstrong matter-field interactions, laser-fusion plasmas, plasma hydrodynamics, nonlinear optics of plasmas, stimulated Raman and Brillouin scatting, nonlinear laser beam focusing, experiments: OMEGA laser system - Dept of Physics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
laser wavefield accelerator, theory and experiment of laser wakefield accelerator structures excited and probed by femtosecond laser pulses with electric field gradients up to GV/cm
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Research Centers emphasizing high energy density physics and accelerators (non-U.S.) (alphabetical by country)
- Institute for the Physics of Plasmas, University of Buenos Aires (UBA)
plasma focus experiments - Plasma Research Laboratory, Australian National University, Canberra, Australlia
pulsed plasma, simulation - Electromagnetics, Photonics, and Plasmas, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
laser plasma interactions, laser plasma theory - French Commissariat a' l'Energie Atomique CEA, France
- Laser- und Plasmaphysik, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
plasma focus, Excimer, CO2 and ion lasers - Plasma Physics at GSI Darmstadt
heavy ion plasma physics, laser-generated ion sources, - Laser Plasma Division, Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, India
hot, dense laser-produced plasma, plasma diagnostics - Free Electron Laser Project, Tel-Aviv University Tel-Aviv, Israel
high power laser research - flexible, tunable source of coherent radiation, materials processing, fusion reactor heating, isotope separation and photochemistry, air pollutant management, free space energy transmission, experiments: free electron laser (FEL)s - Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory, Pisa, Italy
laser-plasma interactions, dense plasma physics, collective phenomena and instabilities, EM wave propagation in plasmas, inertial confinement fusion studies, acceleration, plasma processing, medical and biological laser interactions, intense sources for x-ray microscopy and microlithography - Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
laser plasma experiments, theory and simulation, ICF research, experiments: ICF glass laser system GEKKO XII (Kongoh project), software: laser driven implosion HISHO, Rayleigh-Taylor instability IMPACT, laser produced plasma SCOPE - Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, National Atomic Energy Agency, Warsaw, Poland
intense laser-beam interaction, current pulse generators of plasma-focus type, generation of high pulsed magnetic field, high power lasers, theory and modeling of hot plasmas, fast-varying process diagnostics, lightning research, experiments: PF-1000 plasma focus device - Grupo de Lasers e Plasmas GoLP, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal
high-intensity laser-plasma interactions, acceleration of ultra-short laser pulses, theory of neutrino-plasma interaction, electron surfatron acceleration, and photon acceleration - Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
laser-plasma interactions - Plasma Physics Group, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
inertial confinement fusion studies with central laser at RAL, Z-pinch studies, laser wakefield accelerators, short-pulse laser solid interactions, experiments: dense Z-pinch MAGPIE, plasma accelerator using Raman Forward Scatter - Atomic Weapons Establishment AWE, United Kingdom
Orion laser
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