Bob Yirka is a research scientist at Phys.org.
A team of researchers working at the National Ignition Facility have found that covering a cylinder containing a small amount of hydrogen fuel with a magnetic coil and firing lasers at it triples its energy output.
The team, which has members from several facilities in the U.S., one in the U.K. and one in Japan, describesUpgrading their setup to allow for the introduction of the magnetic coil
A team working at the same facility announced last year that they were close to achieving a nuclear fusion test. They couldn't repeat their results. The team has been looking for ways to improve the design.
The original design called for 192 laser beams to be fired at a cylinder containing a sphere of hydrogen. The X-rays heated the sphere until its atoms fused. Changes to the size of the holes through which the lasers pass have only led to minor alterations.
The team looked for a better solution, and found several studies that showed that encasing a cylinder in a magnetic field should increase the energy output.
The cylinder was originally made of gold and had to be changed. A strong magnetic field would cause an electric current to tear the cylinder apart, so they made a new one from gold and tantalum. The works were covered with a tesla magnetic field after they switched the gas from hydrogen to deuterated hydrogen. They lit up the lasers. The hot spot on the sphere went up by 40%, and the energy output went up by three times.
The fusion reactor goal is to create a reactor that can produce more energy than it takes in.
J. D. Moody and his team observed increased Ion temperature and Neutron yield in the National Ignition Facility. There is a book titled "PhysRevLett.129.195002."
Journal information: Physical Review Letters
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