Numerical Simulation of Plasma Flows in the Interior Cavities of Laser Fusion Targets

This paper deals with a numerical simulation and theoretical investigation of the behavior of plasma flows produced when injecting a laser beam into a target for inertial thermonuclear fusion and absorbing laser radiation in the target internal cavity. Results of two-dimensional numerical calculation are presented for laser beam interaction with the sub critical plasma contained in the gap between two coaxial shells of a laser greenhouse target. The calculations confirm the possibility of initiating a supersonic wave of electron heat conduction in the absorber of the laser greenhouse target.     

Implosion dynamics of a radiative composite Z-pinch

Two-dimensional simulation of a composite Z-pinch was performed by the complete radiative magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code ZETA including detailed calculation of equations of state, spectral properties of materials, and radiation transport in non-local thermodynamic equilibrium multicharged ions plasma. The initial geometry, the substance components, and the electric current through the Z-pinch were similar to the joint experiment set up JEX-94 at Angara-5 facility. The geometry was: annular argon gas puff with inner and outer diameter of a nozzle cross section, 3 cm and 3.4 cm, respectively, and specific mass of 80 μg/cm. Inside it along the axis a foam cylinder 30% KCl in agar-agar with total mass 60 μg and diameter 1 mm was put. The initial gas distribution was modelled with a divergence of a jet along the Z-axis. A coupling of the Z-pinch with the electric current generator was modelled by an electrical circuit with a given electromagnetic wave, a resistance, an inductance, and a variable load (Z-pinch) similar to the Angara-5-1 output parameters. During the plasma implosion the total current reached the value of 3 MA at a time of 85 ns from the voltage start. Such current amplitude is much less than through the matched load (up to 4 MA as a rule): The plasma implosion is accompanied by the development of different types of short and long wave instabilities (thermal, radiative, nonisothermal, and MHD Rayleigh-Taylor modes). In this report, the detailed plasma implosion dynamics, the influence of instabilities, and the spectral radiation yield are discussed, and a comparison with the experimental results is done     

Influence of disorder on superconductivity in non-magnetic rare-earth nickel borocarbides

The effect of substitutional disorder on the superconducting properties of YNi₂B₂C was studied by partially replacing yttrium and nickel by Lu and Pt, respectively. For the two series of (Y, Lu)Ni₂B₂C and Y(Ni, Pt)₂B₂C compounds, the upper critical field H _c2(T) and the specific heat c _p(T, H) in the superconducting mixed state have been investigated. Disorder is found to reduce several relevant quantities such as T _c, the upper critical field H _c2(0) at T=0 and a characteristic positive curvature of H _c2(T) observed for these compounds near T _c. The H _c2(T) data point to the clean limit for (Y, Lu) substitutions and to a transition to the quasi-dirty limit for (Ni, Pt) substitutions. The electronic specific heat contribution γ(H) exhibits significant deviations from the usual linear γ(H) law. These deviations reduce with growing substitutional disorder but remain even in the quasidirty limit which is reached in the Y(Ni_1−x , Pt _x )₂B₂C samples for x=0.1.     

Non-resonant microwave absorption studies of superconducting MgB2 and MgB2 + MgO

Non-resonant microwave absorption (NRMA) studies of superconducting MgB₂ and a sample containing ∼10% by weight of MgO in MgB₂ are reported. The NRMA results indicate near absence of intergranular weak links in the pure MgB₂ sample. A linear temperature dependence of the lower critical field H _c1 is observed indicating a non-s wave superconductivity. However, the phase reversal of the NRMA signal which could suggest d wave symmetry is also not observed. In the MgB₂ + MgO sample, much larger low field dependent absorption is observed indicating the presence of intergranular weak links. The hysteretic behavior of NRMA is compared and contrasted in the two samples. In the pure MgB₂ sample, a large hysteresis is observed between the forward and the reverse scans of the magnetic field indicating strong pinning of flux lines. This hysteresis saturates a few degrees below T _c while in the MgB₂ + MgO sample, a much slower increase of hysteresis with decreasing temperature is observed, a signature of weaker pinning.