Energetic Alpha Transport in a Magnetized Fusion Target

Abstract

Magnetized target fusion (MTF) promises to ease the power and intensity requirements for a fusion driver. High gain MTF targets require fusion ignition to occur in the magnetized fuel. Ignition requires the energy deposited by the charged fusion reaction products to exceed that lost from the plasma by a variety of loss mechanisms. We have used single particle tracking through a magnetized plasma to obtain preliminary results on the DT alpha particle deposition as a function of the plasma ρR and BR for a uniform spherically symmetric volume with a uniform B_θ magnetic field. More complicated plasma density, temperature, and field distributions can be handled by the code, including 2-D distributions, but the efficiency of this approach makes extensive calculations impractical. A more efficient approach is needed, particularly for use in dynamic calculations. However, particle tracking is useful for obtaining information for building more accurate models of the deposition for use in survey codes.