Ion kinetic effects in hybrid-PIC simulations of merging plasma jets in the plasma liner experiment

Summary form only given. Merging plasma jets are envisioned for use in magneto inertial fusion schemes as the source of an imploding plasma liner. In the upcoming plasma liner experiment (PLX) at Los Alamos National Laboratory a spherical array of 15-30 plasma jets generated by compact accelerators will be merged. We present simulation results of plasma jets in the PLX parameter regime (n
₁
, ~10
¹⁷
cm
^-3
, Te, T
_i
~ 1 eV) using the Hybrid particle-in-cell (PIC) code LSP. We also describe synthetic diagnostics implemented into the code to facilitate comparison with PLX experimental results. In hybrid mode electron macroparticles are treated as Lagrangian fluid elements while ion macroparticles may be treated either as a fluid or a kinetic species. The kinetic approach for ions captures non-maxwellian behavior and finite mean-free-path effects such as inter-penetration in jet merging. An equation of state model is used to calculate the local effective charge state and internal energy of the plasma. A radiation transport algorithm is coupled to the plasma to capture the effect of radiation cooling on the electron energy. We present results for acceleration, transport, and merging of argon plasma jets, and compare the results for simulations with fluid and kinetic ions.