Speaker
Description
Photoneutralization technology holds the promise of enabling energy-positive plasma-confinement fusion reactors. Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) is one method of remotely reheating, refueling, and driving the current in a fusion plasma. However, neutralizing a high-amperage ion beam is currently a very inefficient process, topping out at 55% theoretical neutralization efficiency for 1 MeV deuterium ion beams. This low neutralization efficiency wastes tens of megawatts of energy for large-scale NBI systems.
Photoneutralization is the process of removing the extra electron from a negatively-charged ion. A ultra-high power 1064 nm optical cavity can be harnessed for efficient production of a high-energy neutral deuterium beam. Here we explore options for resonant-cavity-based photoneutralization systems for efficient neutral beam injection into magnetic-confined fusion plasmas.