Thermonuclear microexplosion ignition by

imploding a disk of relativistic electrons

Cite as: Physics of Plasmas 2, 733 (1995); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.871425
Submitted: 06 May 1994 . Accepted: 29 November 1994 . Published Online: 03 September 1998

F. Winterberg

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© 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Thermonuclear microexplosion ignition by imploding a disk
of relativistic electrons
F. Winterberg
Desert Research Institute, University and Community College System of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89501
(Received 6 May 1994; accepted 29 November 1994)
A new ignition concept for thermonuclear reactions is described, in which an electron cloud
produced by inductive charge injection and reaching the Brillouin limit, is magnetically compressed
inside a long cylindrical solenoid. For sufficiently fast compression, the front of the cloud becomes
a relativistically contracted annular disk of high-energy density, which upon impact on a grounded
target leads to a cylindrical implosion easily exceeding the power fluxes required for the ignition of
thermonuclear microexplosions. Unlike concepts proposed in the past to ignite thermonuclear
microexplosions by relativistic electron beams, the energy delivered to the target is not in the form
of kinetic particle energy but in the form of an intense electromagnetic pulse. © 1995 American
Institute of Physics.

I. INTRODUCTION
Concepts proposed for the controlled release of nuclear
fusion energy by thermonuclear bum, either by magnetic or
inertial confinement, have in common that they all lead to
very large devices. Magnetic confinement fusion has the ad-
ditional disadvantage that it depends on a deuterium-tritium
mixture, whereas inertial fusion could, in principle, also
work with deuterium alone. The different inertial confine-
ment fusion concept here proposed instead, promises to be
rather compact.
In inertial confinement, fusion concepts actively pursued
or proposed, kinetic beam energy compresses and heats a
thermonuclear target. The beam particles available for this
task range from zero rest mass photons, moving with the
velocity of light, to massive single projectiles magnetically
accelerated to a few 100 kmlS.l Particle beams possessing
sufficient intensity require large accelerators many miles
long, and the same is true for magnetically accelerated mas-
sive projectiles. Beams of rest mass photons generated with
lasers require no acceleration, but because of the inefficiency
of lasers possessing the right wavelength, the lasers needed,
too, become very large. The reason why the particle accel-
erators are so large is that, in addition to the energy required
for thermonuclear ignition, their beams must carry a large
amount of momentum. For electrons that, apart from the zero
rest mass photons, carry the smallest momentum, no large
accelerators would be needed, but electrons cannot be easily
stopped in a small target (an important requirement for ther-
monuclear microexplosion ignition). To stop intense relativ-
istic electron beams in a dense target, it was proposed to
make use of the two-stream instability,2 but to excite this
instability is difficult. It was for this reason that efforts to-
ward thermonuclear microexplosion ignition by pulse-power
generated intense relativistic electron beams were abandoned
in favor of intense light ion beams. Like electron beams, they
can be efficiently generated by electric pulse power
techniques,3 but unlike electron beams they can be easily
stopped in a dense target. However, the projection and focus-
ing unto a small target poses a serious problem. For heavy
ion beams requiring accelerators many miles long, the stop-
ping power is less than what would be ideal, but they can at
least be easily projected and focused onto a target. The best
prospect seem to have projectile accelerators for impact fu-
sion, but there the traveling magnetic wave accelerator be-
comes very large.
Here we propose a concept that employs intense pulses
of relativistic electrons, but unlike the intense relativistic
electron beam pulses previously proposed, these pulses are
neither electrically nor magnetically neutralized. Unlike the
space charge and electric current, neutralized intense relativ-
istic electron beams that propagate through a thin gas or
plasma, these beam pulses go through a vacuum, reaching
the Brillouin limit. They carry a large portion of their energy
in the form of electric and magnetic field energy stored in
their self-fields, and with the aid of their self-fields these
beam pulses can be focused by magnetic implosion onto a
target. Most important of all, these magnetically confined
electron beam pulses can become highly relativistic, making
possible energy cumulation by Lorentz contraction. It is this
last possibility promising energy fluxes far beyond what can
otherwise be reached.
A suitable technique to generate such beams was in the
past proposed by the author for a novel kind of particle ac-
celerator to reach ultrahigh energies. 4 It employed an idea
proposed many years ago, to generate a magnetically con-
fined electron cloud. s
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE THERMONUCLEAR
IGNITION CONCEPT
To generate an electron cloud as the source for an in-
tense electron beam, we use the concept of inductive charge
injection proposed for the HIPAC (heavy ion particle accel-
erator) device,S but in departing from the HIPAC device, the
injection takes place into a long magnetic solenoid, rather
than into a toroidal magnetic field. The principle of the pro-
posed novel thermonuclear ignition concept is then explained
in Fig. 1. As shown in the radial cross section, Fig. 1(a),
electrons released from thermionic emitters are attached to a
solenoidal magnetic field rising in time, and move on a spi-
raling trajectory into the evacuated space inside the solenoid,
where they are confined by the magnetic field. As shown in
Fig. 1(b), the cloud is restrained from moving to the left side

Phys. Plasmas 2 (3), March 1995 1070-664X195/2(3)/733/8/$6.00 © 1995 American Institute of Physics 733
 MS

TE

b
FIG. l. The (a) radial and (b) axial cross section: MS, magnetic solenoid; Ee, electron cloud; D, dense disk of relativistic electrons; TE, thermionic emitter;
S, switch; P, power supply; Me, magnetic mirror coil; T. thermonuclear target; V, liquid vortex, Te, thermonuclear microexplosion chamber.

end of the solenoid by a magnetic mirror field, but is permit- ered into a small volume, the proposed concept may open the
ted to move into the other direction. While drifting to the prospect for the ignition of deuterium targets.
right, the cloud is accelerated by its internal electric field, Finally, the standoff problem for the microexplosion can
resulting in the formation of an intense electron beam. It is be solved by replacing the last segment of the conducting
now proposed that during the axial expansion, the particle tube guiding the beam to the target by the core of a liquid
number density in the cloud is kept constant by radially com- metal vortex. For the generation of tritium, a liquid lithium
pressing it at the right amount. with the magnetic field rising vortex may be used.
in time. Through the compressive work of the magnetic field,
the head of the electron cloud is accelerated to high energies,
and if the electron number density in a comoving reference
III. GENERATION OF THE ELECTRON CLOUD
system of the head of the cloud is kept constant, the head is
Lorentz contracted. In describing the generation of the electron cloud by
After drifting a sufficiently large distance, the Lorentz inductive charge injection, we follow the analysis done for
contracted head of the electron cloud becomes a very intense the HIPAC device. 5
and energetic relativistic electron beam pulse, having the In a cylindrical coordinate system directed along the axis
shape of an annular disk. If this beam pulse is projected onto of the solenoid, we have from Maxwell's equations,
a grounded target as shown, the electric self-field of the
beam is neutralized, resulting in its implosion onto the target 1 aH
curl E = - - - (1)
by its unrestrained magnetic self-field. In the course of this c at '
implosion. all the energy stored in the beam pulse, that is its
electric, magnetic, and kinetic particle energy, is converted (2)
into magnetic energy. The energy delivered to the target is in
the form of an intense electromagnetic pulse, deposited in a The induced azimuthal electric field E", in combination with
thin layer of the target. The implosion resembles the dynamic the axial magnetic field Hz results in a radial drift motion,
pinch effect in nonrelativistic plasma physics, but because
the beam pulse here is highly relativistic, the instabilities E", r Hz
vr=c Hz = - '2 Hz' (3)
occurring in the nonrelativistic pinch effect are substantially
reduced by radiation damping. In the course of the implo-
The buildup of the cloud leads to a radial electric field E r '
sion, the electrons become nonrelativistic, reversing the Lor-
obtained from
entz contraction transforming the annular disk into a cylin-
drical pinch column. With the large magnetic fields reached div E=47Tne, (4)
in the imploded pinch column, thermonuclear bum is en-
with the result that
hanced by magnetic entrapment of the charged fusion prod-
ucts. Because a large amount of energy can be rapidly deliv- (5)

734 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 2, No.3, March 1995 F. Winterberg

This electric field causes an additional azimuthal drift mo- an 1 a
tion, -+--(rnv)=O. (12)
at r ar r

(6) With (3), it becomes

whereby the electron cloud, confined by the magnetic field,
an 1 Hz a 2
forms a rotating cylinder. To keep v cf> < c (6) leads to the - - - - - ( r n)=O (13)
at 2r Hz ar '
inequality
having the general solution
E<H, (7)
n(r,t) = HJ(r 2 H z ), (14)
also known as the magnetic insulation criterion, with both E
and H measured in electrostatic cgs units. where f is an arbitrary function subject to the boundary and
For a stable confinement of the electron cloud against initial conditions.
the so-called diocotron instability, the centrifugal force re- If ro is the inner radius of the solenoid and I the length
sulting from the azimuthal drift motion must be small com- of the magnetically confined electron cloud, the total injec-
pared to the Lorentz force: tion current to set up the cloud is
2 2 2 .
mvcf> ev¢Hz /(t)=27TT olen(ro,t)v r = -7Trolef(r Hz)H z · (15)
--<--- (8)
r c' If, in particular, l/ if z =const, then f = const and
from which it follows that (16)
(9) The average radial injection current density is
2
where wp=C47Tne fm)ll2, and we=eHfmc, with n the j r= 27Tenv r= 27Tenro f TH= Erf TH, (17)
electron number density in the cloud, and e and m the elec-
where TH is the rise time of the magnetic field.
tric charge and mass of an electron. Condition (9) can be also
From (3), it follows that
written in the form
n < n max = H2 f 4 7Tmc 2 , (10) d:=_(~)d:z, (18)
where n max is the Brillouin limit for a magnetically confined
electron cloud. As an example we take a magnetic field of which, upon integration, is
H = 105 G, which is still technically attainable, and find Hz(t)f Hz(O) = (ro /r)2. (19)
n max =1015 cm- 3 • Experimentally,5 one finds as an upper sta-
bility limit wp~ w ef5. It leads to a maximum number density If f is chosen in such a way f=O for t<to, andf=const for
electron of the cloud about 20 times smaller than the Bril- t>t o , implying that the thermionic emitters are turned on
louin limit, and the same would be true for the energy stored only after H z(t) > H z(to), a hollow cylindrical electron cloud
in the cloud. However, for an electron cloud permitted to is formed. After the time t = t I , its inner radius is
expand in the axial direction the situation is much better for rj= ro[Hz{to}f Hz(t I}] 112. (20)
the following reason: At the Brillouin limit the distance an
With Hz(tO)=H min , Hz(tl)=H max , one has
electron must move to become relativistic is of the same
order as the electron Larmor radius. And because at the Bril- ri= ro(Hminf Hmax) 1/2. (21)
louin limit the radius of the cloud is about equal to the elec-
In turning off the emitters prior to the time t J, the outer
tron Larmor radius, an axial displacement of the electrons by
radius of the electron cloud detaches itself from the inner
that same distance leads to an axial current generating an
conducting wall of the solenoid. If at this moment
azimuthal magnetic field with a strength about equal to the
Hz = HI < H max' the outer radius r a of the cloud is
strength of the externally applied magnetic field. In this case,
then, (8) would have to be replaced by ra=ro(HJfHmax)1I2. (22)
mv2fR<evzH~c~evzH/c~evH/c, where R is the ra- 5
For the example, H= 10 G, and inequality (7), it follows
dius of curvature of the helical electron trajectory resulting that E,,;;; 105 esu = 3 X 107 V fcm. Assuming that the magnetic
from the axial expansion of the cloud. Accordingly, condition field can rise in TH~ 10- 6 s, one finds from (17) that j r= lOll
(9) would have to be replaced by wp < ,JRfrwe. Depending esu=30 Alcm2• For the proposed concept the shortest pos-
on the distance an electron drifts into the axial direction, R sible rise time is desirable. With established pulse power
can become much larger than r. Therefore, larger values of techniques, TH~1O-7 s seems to be attainable, which would
wp are possible, whereby the Brillouin limit wp= we should raise j r to ~300 Alcm2 • Thermionic emitter currents of this
be reached. magnitude should be feasible.
The buildup of the electron cloud follows from the con-
tinuity equation,
IV. RADIAL COMPRESSION AND AXIAL EXPANSION
an OF THE ELECTRON CLOUD
-+div nv=O (11)
at '
To obtain useful estimates, we may approximate the an-
which in cylindrical coordinates is nular electron cloud of inner and outer radius rj and r a , by a

Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 2, No.3, March 1995 F. Winterberg 735

cylindrical electron cloud of equal volume and radius r. locity of light. By magnetically compressing an electron
Choosing a cylindrical r,Z coordinate system, with the rear cloud, a disturbance in it is propagated with the velocity
end of the electron cloud positioned at z =0, one computes an ~H2/4'ITnm = e. If the electron cloud is compressed along
electrostatic potential for a cloud initially at rest, of length I its entire length, the compression wave has an infinite phase
and radius r, which is velocity, and because the head cannot move faster than c, it
l + r [2 dz' is plausible that the head of the cloud must become a
V(z)=n'ITr e
2
f -r/2
-Iz-
--'1
Z
Lorentz-contracted disk.
The condition that the electron number density measured
_ 2 (I
z + rl21 )
-n'ITr e log l(z-I)-rI21 . (23)
in a comoving reference system of the cloud remains un-
changed can be derived from the continuity equation. For
relativistic velocities it is in cylindrical coordinates given by
The electric field at the two ends of the cloud is
av(o)
E (0)= - - - = -2'ITner (24a)
z az '
where n is the number density in a locally comoving refer-
aVe!) ence system. If this density shall remain constant, and if one
E (1)=---=2'ITner (24b)
assumes a linear dependence v r =const r, for the radial ve-
z az '
locity distribution, (28) becomes
and of the same magnitude as the radial electric field.
Due to a thinning out of the electron number density I 2u r + ~ ( Vz ) =0 (29)
near the head of the cloud, these fields are valid only if the ~1- v;lc 2 r az ~l- v;le 2 '
electron cloud does not expand, and would rapidly fall off in
time for an axially expanding cloud. To counteract this thin- for which one can also write
ning out of the cloud, it is proposed that during its expansion
2vr dv z
the cloud is magnetically compressed in the radial direction -+
r I-v;lc 2
-=0
dz .
(30)
at just the right amount to keep its electron number density
constant. In the nonrelativistic limit v/c~l of (30), one has
Whereas the electrons positioned at the rear end of the
cloud are by the magnetic mirror field restrained from ex- 2vr dv z
panding to the left, the electrons at the other end are free to -+-=0. (31)
r dz
move to the right. Then, provided the electron number den-
sity viewed from a reference system at rest with the cloud Assuming a linear velocity profile of the form dv/dz = clzo,
can be kept constant, the axial electric field component at the one finds
head of the cloud remains unchanged as well, and the elec-
trons positioned at the front of the cloud are for this reason vrlc= -( ~)rlzo· (32)
accelerated to high energies. In moving from their initial If, for example, r-5 cm and zo-20 m, one would have
position Zo = I to zo> I, these electrons would reach the en- 7
1v rl =5 X 10 cm/s, with a magnetic compression time T of
ergy the order r/lu rl-IO-7 S, which seems to be feasible. To keep
(25) the electron number density in the cloud constant during the
expansion of the cloud requires that the volume of the cloud
€ eEz remains constant, or that 'lTr2zo=const, with r decreasing in
Yo=::-:-:-:z
me
= =-:2
me
(zo-I)· (26)
proportion to 1I ~ as zo increases, but if during the radial
compression of the cloud fresh electrons are injected by in-
The energy is peaked at the head of the cloud, where y= Yo, ductive charge injection, coupled to the rising magnetic field,
with y<yo for z<zo. r can be kept constant.
Then, by making use of the inequality (7), the energy
In the vicinity of the cloud where the relativistic behav-
reached by the electrons at the head of the cloud would be
ior must be taken into account, the continuity equation is
(27)
5
For the example Hz -10 G, and in order to satisfy (7), as-
2vr + y dv z =0. (33)
r dz
suming that E z={t)H z =107 V/cm, one would have
d €I dz = 107 eVIcm. Therefore, if the cloud expands over the As the cloud moves to the right, its head becomes an intense
distance of just 10m, the electrons positioned at its front electron beam pulse possessing a large azimuthal magnetic
would acquire an energy of -10 GeV, for which Yo=2X 104 . field, in addition to its radial and axial electric field. If the
The radial magnetic compression can be done along the electron number density in the cloud is Lorentz contracted,
entire length of the cloud, and it is for this reason that the according to
speed of the magnetic compression can be made much n'=yn, (34)
smaller than the speed by which the cloud expands in the
axial direction, with the expansion velocity reaching the ve- these fields at the location, where y= Yo, are

736 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 2, No.3, March 1995 F. Winterberg

 plains why a large-energy cumulation in the disk is possible,
very much like the energy cumulation in a heavy projectile
(35) driven by a light gas.
If the head of the cloud is 104 -fold Lorentz contracted,
H~= YoE,::5 yoH z • and if the electron number density was initially equal to
n _10 15 cm -3, the maximum number density attainable with
Therefore, if H z=105 G, and if yo=104 , one would have
a confining field of _105 G, it would in the Lorentz-
E; = E z ::5 3 X 10 7 V/cm, E; ::5 3 X lOll V/cm,
contracted disk be of the order n _10 19 cm -3. Because the
H~::5109 G. It must be kept in mind that these high values for
Lorentz contraction is a purely relativistic effect, no com-
E; and H~ are only reached in the vicinity of the thin disk of
pressive work to reach this high density must be done. The
thickness 8-rlyo positioned at the head of the cloud.
Lorentz contraction is for this reason ideally suited to reach
The electric field behind the front of the cloud is E~
high-energy densities.
= 2 7rn ' e Z = 2 7ryn e z, where z is measured here from the
Atomistically, the electric field of each electron is con-
distance 8-rlyo behind the front. With the longitudinal mass
tracted, whereby the lines of forces are bent into a direction
of an electron given by ym,
the equation of motion for an
perpendicular to the direction in which the electrons move.
electron in the axial direction there is
As a result, the Coulomb repulsion is reduced in the direction
of motion, permitting the electrons to come closer to each
(36) other.
In the proposed concept the radial compression of the
which, because of dv/dt=c dv/dz becomes cloud is done by an externally applied magnetic field, but as
we may mention in passing, the magnetic self-field of the
r dv , = wp
dz 2c
2
z. (37) beam formed in the course of the compression can compress
the beam as well, provided part of the electric space charge
With H~=27rner and H;=47rnmc,2 one finds that of the beam is neutralized. Such neutralization can be done
by a variety of means, for example, the injection of ions. If
_2 dv z = 2cz the degree of space charge neutralization is given by the
(38)
'r dz 7' fraction f, the radial force acting on a beam electron is

With 8-riyo-z, one finds from (26) for zo}>/ that , Vz ,) v<f>
F=e ( (1-f)E f - -cH <f> - e -
c Hz, (43)
Yo=2z olr, and hence

r dvz=~ (39) with H~ = (v,lc)E;, E; = YoHz' and vq/c=1, this be-

comes
dz zo'

~- f
whereby (33) leads to (32), as in the nonrelativistic limit.
Since (32) turns out to be valid for the nonrelativistic domain F= e( ) yoH z - eH z · (44)
of the electron cloud located far behind the disk, and for the
ultrarelativistic part within the disk, (32) should at least be For the force of the self-field to become equal to the force of
approximately valid for the intermediate region as well. the externally applied field requires that f= lIyo. If, for ex-
Because v;lc 2=(1-y-2), one has ample, yo-104 , a rather small compensation of the electric
2v~ dv/dz=2c dv/dz=2c 2 y-3 dyldz, whereby (37) be- space charge would suffice. For a ten times larger space
comes charge compensation, which for yo-104 would mean that
f _10- 3 , the compressive effect of the self-magnetic field
I dy w; would correspond to an externally applied magnetic field in
y dz =2?z. (40)
the megagauss range. Furthermore, the magnetic compres-
sion velocity here can be much faster, because the space
Integration gives the distribution of y values within the disk,
charge neutralizing ions can be injected in a much shorter

y=yoexp(-~(82_Z2»),
time than the rise time for an externally applied field. By
0<z<8. (41) injecting the ions along the beam in a programmed manner, a
strong traveling magnetic wave of comparatively short wave-
With w~/c2=4Ir2, this can be also written as follows: length, propagating along the expanding cloud, can be gen-
erated, greatly enhancing energy cumulation toward the front
(82_Z2»)
y=Yo exp ( - r2 of the cloud.
The energy cumulation in the head of the cloud is deter-
mined by the Poynting vector,
= Yo
Z2
exp ( ::2- ~ ,
I) r
O<z<-. (42)
r Yo Yo s= cExH/47r= cE<f>H z 147r= S" (45)

Because of the relativistic mass increase of the electrons, the with E <f> given by (2), hence
disk acts like a heavy projectile driven by the gas of the
lighter, less relativistic, electrons positioned behind. It ex- S,= -(rI2)dldt(H;/87r). (46)

Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 2, No.3, March 1995 F. Winterberg 737

The total energy input along the entire length of the cloud
during the magnetic compression time 'T is thus
(47)
The radial flow of the energy is followed by the axial
flow toward the head of the cloud, given by
(48)
showing that the energy cumulation is strongly peaked to-
ward the head of the cloud, where y is largest.
During its radial compression, the electron cloud be-
haves like a two-dimensional gas, with its temperature rising
in proportion to TITo=(HmaxIHmin)2, where To-O.l eV is
the temperature of the injected electrons coming from the
2 FIG. 2. Implosion of the annular disk D of relativistic electrons onto the
thermionic emitters. Assuming that H maxIH min = 10 , one
finds that T~ 10 eY. For an electron number density n~ 1015
3
cm- 3 at maximum compression, the electron mean-free path
is of the order -2X 103 cm. The electron thermal velocity at
T~ 103 eV is -3X 108 cm/s, and the collision time therefore
_10- 5 s. This time is large compared to the compression
time. At the head of the cloud, where compression by Lor-
entz contraction takes place, the collision time would be-
come shorter by the factor llyo, but because of the relativis-
tic time dilation effect that increases the collision time by the
factor Yo, the collision time remains the same. For the ex-
ample n~ 1015 cm- 3 , yo-104, the collision time would with-
out the time dilation effect become ~ 10- 9 s, and hence
shorter than the magnetic compression time, and if this
would be true, part of the compression energy would be dis-
sipated into heat. Also, because of the relativistic tempera-
ture transformation law, T' = TI Yo, it follows that
n'T' = n T, and there is no buildup in pressure by Lorentz
contraction.
In the course of its acceleration, the energy of the elec-
trons positioned near the cloud head increases as
E' = YoE. (49)
And because the Lorentz contraction pulse is shortened by
the factor y, the power of the beam pulse increases as
p' = y5 P. (50)
By order of magnitude, the energy deposited into the
cloud is Ein~1Tr21H;/81T. For the example r=5 cm, l=103
cm, and H z =105 G, one has E in =3X10 13 erg=3 MJ. The
energy cumulated into the disk should be of the same order
of magnitude. If the cloud expands from 1= 103 cm to
zo=2X 103 cm, its radius decreases by 1I~. To cumulate an
energy of the order 3 MJ with an equal amount of the energy
going into magnetic, electric, and kinetic particle energy,
about I MJ= 10 13 erg would have to go into magnetic field
energy alone, most of it located within the thin disk. For
Yo= 104 , the magnetic field energy density within the disk is
rJ!;/87T= 10 15 erg!cm3 =103 MJ!cm3• For a cloud radius
equal to r1~, the cross section of the disk is (1Tr 2/2) =40
cm2 . Therefore, to deposit an energy of -3 MJ, the thickness
o of the disk would have to be 0= 10- 4 cm. By order of
magnitude, this value fares fairly well with the order of mag-
nitude estimate S--(rI2)1Yo-2X 10- 4 cm.
738 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 2, No.3, March 1995
target T.
V. TARGET IMPACT
For the ignition of a thermonuclear microexplosion, a
thermonuclear target has to be placed at the end of the sole-
noidal drift tube, where the intense beam pulse can strike the
target. Even though the details of the interaction of the in-
tense beam pulse with the target are rather complex, a gen-
eral idea of what is happening can easily be explained with
the help of Fig. 2. Still far away from the target the Lorentz-
contracted electron pulse has the shape of a thin annular disk.
At this position the electric field of the disk is primarily in
the radial direction, with the field strength given by
E r = yE;, pI. However, in approaching the grounded tar-
get, the electric lines of force gradually change their direc-
tion toward the target. In striking the target, the electric space
charge of the disk is neutralized, and as a result of this space
charge neutralization, the magnetic forces, prior to that event
prevented by the counteracting electric forces to implode the
disk, begin to implode the disk toward the target.
To contemplate this kind of magnetic implosion by a
highly relativistic beam pulse, one must recognize that the
pulse carries three types of energy: (1) Electric field energy,
(2) magnetic field energy, and (3) kinetic particle energy.
According to (7) and (0), one has, initially,
nmc 2-H 2/81T-E 2/81T, with each type of energy making
an equal contribution. During the Lorentz contraction
m-+ym, n-tyn, H-+yH, and E-+yE, with the volume oc-
cupied by the electrons decreased by the factor l/y. As a
result, the distribution between the three types of energy re-
mains unchanged.
The magnetic field of the electric beam current pulse
within the solenoid is proportional to l/r, and the magnetic
field energy proportional to log(rolr), where r is the radius
of the beam and ro is the inner radius of the solenoid. Now,
because the total energy stored in the beam pulse, comprised
of the electric and magnetic field energy, and the kinetic
particle energy is three times larger than the magnetic field
energy would be alone, the space charge neutralized beam
pulse can only implode down to the radius rl' given by
10g( ~~) = 3 10g( rrO) =10g( rrO} 3, (51)
F. Winterberg
from which it follows that
"0 I r 1 = (r 0 I r) 3. (52)
Therefore, if, for example, ro= 15 cm, r=3 cm, one would
have rolrl _10 2 , and hence for the radius at which the im-
plosion comes to a rest, 1'1-0.03 cm.
The described kind of magnetic implosion resembles the
dynamic pinch of nonrelativistic plasma physics, but for a
highly relativistic flow the growth of instabilities is reduced
by radiation damping. The effect radiation damping has can
be estimated with the radiation loss formula for a relativistic
electron,
o 3 -2 4
P,=(e-Ic )u 'Yo. (53)
For a perturbation of wavelength A, the energy loss is of the
order
P,- (e 21c 3 )(c2/A)2 'Y6, (54)
resulting in the radiation loss time,
Trad- 'Yomc2/P,= (mc A2)/( e2'Y~). (55)
The time for an instability to grow is of the order
Tins- A/c . (56)
Stability by radiation damping should require that
(57)
leading to
A<re'Y~' (58)
2 2 13
where re=e /mc =10- cm is the classical electron radius.
For the example 'Yu-2X 104 , it would follow that the implod-
ing configuration is stable for A< 1 cm. Because the motion
of l:harged particles during an exactly cylindrical implosion
does not lead to the emission of electromagnetic radiation,
the effect of the radiation damping on the implosion is to
make the implosion more uniform.
In the course of the implosion the disk expands by the
fal:tor 'Yo, from 0= 10- 4 cm to 0' = 1 cm. For the cross sec-
tion of (7Tr 212)=40 cm 2, the energy flux is of the order
¢=cEi/O'( 7Tr 212) =2 X 1022 erglcm2 s=2X 10 15 W/cm 2 , large
enough to ignite a deuterium tritium thermonuclear reaction.
By imploding the beam from 3 cm down to 0.03 cm, the
strength of the magnetic field rises from Hz - 10 5 G to
H _107 G. Because of this large field strength, combined
with a beam length of the order of a few cm, the target
should be made in the form of a thin cylindrical column of
the same length. The Larmor radius of the He4 -fusion prod-
ucts from the deuterium tritium reaction is for a field strength
of H -1 0 7 G of the order _10- 2 cm. The fusion products are
for this reason entrapped within the imploded channel of the
same dimension, a necessary condition for thermonuclear
bum.
Because the beam pulse is delivered to the target not in
the form of kinetic particle energy, but rather in the form of
a powerful electromagnetic pulse, the energy is delivered
into a thin layer on the surface of the cylindrical target. Im-
pedance matching of the beam pulse with the target is
achieved, provided
Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 2, No.3, March 1995
FIG. 3. Staged target concept. Two intense relativistic electron beam pulses
generated by radial compression of an electron cloud, ignite two booster
targets I, which, in tum, ignite the much larger target II.
(59)
16
where wp _10 s - 1 is the plasma frequency of the target,
lIw-rlc the time scale of the electromagnetic pulse, and
(]'-107 T312 s - 1 the electric conductivity of the layer in which
the energy of the pulse is deposited in the target. Inserting
these values into (59), the temperature of the layer at which
impedance matching occurs, is equal to T-l MeV. The pen-
etration depth is -c/ wp _10- 5 cm, which, in combination
with this large temperature, should ensure efficient ablation
implosion of a cylindrical pusher. Even though the energy
and power density are well above what is required for ther-
monuclear ignition, the details of the target design have still
to be worked out.
The excellent magnetic confinement property of the mi-
croexplosion should permit a substantial reduction of the ig-
nition energy. Suppose it could be reduced from -3 MJ
down to _10 5 J. A smaller microexplosion though would
have a substantially smaller yield, in particular, since the
thermonuclear bum depends on the duration the strong mag-
netic field inside the imploded channel. However, as long as
there is significant thermonuclear bum, it is possible to em-
ploy the concept of staged targets, whereby the energy re-
leased from a smaller thermonuclear microexplosion ignites
a larger one. 6 In this way, it may be even possible to ignite a
deuterium thermonuclear reaction. A particular useful design
is shown in Fig. 3, which also completely eliminates the end
losses by letting the electron cloud expand in both directions
inside a bent magnetic field coil. The relativistic electron
pulse coming from each end of the coil ignites a small ther-
monuclear target, and the energetic fusion products gener-
ated by the microexplosion of these two small booster targets
then ignite a larger target placed in between. In this way a
large yield, but without a large ignition apparatus, may be-
come possible.
F. Winterberg 739
IF. Winterberg, in Physics of High Energy Density, edited by P. Caldirola 4F. Winterberg, Phys. Rev. A 25,619 (1982).
and H. Knoepfel (Academic, New York, 1971), p, 370ff. $0. S. Janes, R. H. Levy, H. A. Bethe, and B. T. Feld, Phys. Rev. 145, 925
2F. Winterberg, Phys. Rev. 174,212 (1968). (1966).
30. Yonas, Sci. Am. 239, 50 (1978). 6F. Winterberg, Nature 258, 512 (1975); J. Plasma Phys. 16,81 (1976).

740 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 2, No.3, March 1995 F. Winterberg