Progress in Beam Focusing and Compression for Target Heating and Warm Dense Matter Experiments

The Heavy-Ion Fusion Sciences Virtual National Laboratory is pursuing an approach to target heating experiments in the warm dense matter regime, using space-charge-dominated ion beams that are simultaneously longitudinally bunched and transversely focused. Longitudinal beam compression by large factors has been demonstrated in the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX) with controlled ramps and forced neutralization. Using an injected 30 mA K{sup +} ion beam with initial kinetic energy 0.3 MeV, axial compression leading to {approx}50X current amplification and simultaneous radial focusing to a few mm have led to encouraging energy deposition approaching the intensities required for eV-range target heating experiments. We discuss the status of several improvements to NDCX to reach the necessary higher beam intensities, including: beam diagnostics, greater axial compression via a longer velocity ramp; and plasma injection improvements to establish a plasma density always greater than the beam density, expected to be > 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3}.