Acceleration of macroscopic particle to hypervelocity by high intensity beams

Hypervelocity (~1000 km/s) impact of a macroscopic particle (macron) has profound influences in high energy density physics (HEDP) and impact fusion studies. As the charge-mass ratio of macrons are too low, the length of a electrostatic accelerator can reach hundreds to thousands of kilometers, rendering hypervelocity impact impractical. To reduce the accelerator length, a much higher electric field than what the most powerful klystrons can provide is desired. One of the very few choices is the high intensity charged particle beam “blowing-pipe” scheme. In this scheme, a high intensity (~ 1 kA), medium energy (1 ~ 5 MV), long pulse (~ 1 ms) positively charged ion beam shots to a heavily charged, millimeter size macron, to create a local high strength electric field (~ 10
¹⁰
V/m), accelerating the macron. In this paper, we will present a possible approach, and the physics and challenges involved.