Compressional heating above 1 keV on the LM26 magnetized target fusion machine

S. J. Howard; D. Krotez; P. Carle; J. Sanchez Rojo; R. Underwood; A. Froese; M. Reynolds; N. Sirmas; K. Conquergood; K. Epp; P. Forysinski; D. Plant; R. Zindler; E. Love; D. P. Brennan; N. Kumar; C. MacDonald; A. Wong; W. Zawalski; B. Rablah; W. Kozicki; C. Preston; A. Lee; X. Feng; M. Schellenberg-Beaver; R. Tingley; J. Gorenstein; V. Suponitsky; Z. Seifollahi Moghadam; D. Froese; E. Cessford; J. Pratt; J. Crofts; J. Sardari; G. Faust; D. Ross; J. Wilkie; S. Bernard; C. Connor; S. Bolanos; C. Gutjahr; E. Chan; C. Eyrich; A. Mahoney; M. Davidson; M. Laberge

arXiv · 2610.11890

Compressional heating above 1 keV on the LM26 magnetized target fusion machine

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Abstract

The LM26 device has achieved a peak electron temperature of $T_e = 1180 \pm 65$ eV as measured by filtered X-ray diodes, supported by adjacent Thomson scattering measurements of $T_e = 1090 \pm 40$ eV, with a deuterium ion temperature of $T_i = 459 \pm 33$ eV as inferred from neutron yield. LM26 compresses a spherical tokamak plasma inside an initially 1.76 m diameter solid lithium liner imploded by theta-pinch coils. Radial compression by a factor of 2.75 increases $T_e$ over fivefold, while $T_i$ increases as much as twofold. The integrated observation of magnetic flux compression, electron heating, ion heating, and neutron production in a magnetized plasma compressed by a large lithium liner is an important milestone for magnetized target fusion

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S. J. Howard, D. Krotez, P. Carle, J. Sanchez Rojo, R. Underwood, A. Froese, M. Reynolds, N. Sirmas, K. Conquergood, K. Epp, P. Forysinski, D. Plant, R. Zindler, E. Love, D. P. Brennan, N. Kumar, C. MacDonald, A. Wong, W. Zawalski, B. Rablah, W. Kozicki, C. Preston, A. Lee, X. Feng, M. Schellenberg-Beaver, R. Tingley, J. Gorenstein, V. Suponitsky, Z. Seifollahi Moghadam, D. Froese, E. Cessford, J. Pratt, J. Crofts, J. Sardari, G. Faust, D. Ross, J. Wilkie, S. Bernard, C. Connor, S. Bolanos, C. Gutjahr, E. Chan, C. Eyrich, A. Mahoney, M. Davidson, M. Laberge. 2026-10-08. Compressional heating above 1 keV on the LM26 magnetized target fusion machine. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11890

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