Efficient energy transition from kinetic to internal energy in supersonic collision of high-density plasma jets from conical implosions

Abstract

A collision of supersonic jets in the double-cone ignition scheme is realized experimentally. With a very high deceleration, the supersonic jets merge into a high density plasma core, which will be further fast heated to ignition condition. Both the density and temperature of the plasma core are increased due to nearly 100% of kinetic energy of the jets converted into the internal energy. Some diagnostic tools are used to characterize the plasma, including X-ray Thomson scattering, hard X-ray monochromatic backlighting, X-ray streak imaging and framing imaging. The density of the supersonic jet arrive at about 5.5–8 g/cm³. During colliding, a stagnation phase lasts about 200 ps, and the maximum density of the plasma core is increased to (46 ± 24) g/cm³. By analyzing the velocity and temperature before and after colliding, it is found that 90% of the kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy.