HTSC Maglev Ring System for Noncontact Acceleration and Injection of Cryogenic Fuel Targets into the Laser Focus of an ICF Facility

Creation of an efficient system for the frequent delivery of cryogenic fuel targets (CFT) to the focus of a powerful laser facility is one of the key directions of research in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The paper discusses prospects for the creation of a ring magnetic system based on the contactless acceleration of a levitating CFT carrier made of high-temperature type II superconductors (HTSC), up to specified injection velocities of 200–400 m/s. For this purpose, the temperature dependence of the magnetic moment of HTSC tapes in the range Δ T = 10–92 K was studied, prototype experiments on the acceleration of HTSC carriers at T ~ 80 K due to an external action on them with a frequency of ~1 Hz were carried out, and the speed for the stall of HTSC carriers from a circular trajectory were calculated. The calculation results are in good agreement with the experiment, which makes it possible to estimate the parameters of the ring magnetic accelerator for the operating temperature of the CFT injector T ~ 17 K. It is shown that the method proposed is promising for the creation of systems for noncontact delivery of CFT based on the principles of levitation and subsequent injection of CFTs into the center of the ICF reactor chamber at the required speed. The results of planning a new series of experiments are presented: acceleration of an HTSC carrier followed by injection of a surrogate target into the chamber of the GARPUN (LPI) KrF laser.