With the aim of increasing the LMJ-PETAL facility's capabilities, particularly in the fields of Inertial Confinement Fusion, radiation source generation and astrophysics, the CEA, with the funding support of the Nouvelle Aquitaine region, has just carried out a feasibility study for an additional system enabling experiments to be carried out under an intense magnetic field (several 10T). The continuation of the project, with a view to its integration into the facility, is the subject of collaboration between several CEA departments, as well as with other laboratories in France (LULI, CELIA) and abroad (Japan, USA).
The magnetic field generation system essentially consists of a consumable coil (electromagnet) positioned around the laser target and powered by an energy bank via a transmission line. The continuation of the project requires in-depth work on the design of the coils, which will have to meet the required performance in terms of magnetic field generation (intensity, magnetized volume, spatial homogeneity and temporal stability), while at the same time being adapted to the characteristics of the high pulsed power supply (~10µs, qq. 10kA and qq. 10kV) and to the experimental constraints of a very large laser facility (integration in the experimental chamber center, alignment, risk of debris, nuclear safety, etc.).