Miniature magnetic bottle confined by circularly polarized laser light

Abstract

A new concept of hot plasma confinement in a miniature magnetic bottle induced by circularly polarized laser light is suggested. Magnetic fields generated by circularly polarized laser light may be of the order of megagauss. In this configuration the circularly polarized laser light is used to obtain confinement of a plasma contained in a good conductor vessel. The poloidal magnetic field induced by the circularly polarized laser and the efficiency of laser absorption by the plasma are calculated. The confinement in this scheme is supported by the magnetic forces. The Lawson criterion for a DT plasma might be achieved for number density n = 5.1021 cm-3 and confinement time τ = 20 ns. The laser and plasma parameters required to obtain an energetic gain are calculated.