GERMANY - GSI

GESELLSCHAFT FÜR SCHWERIONENFORSCHUNG (GSI)

Planckstrasse 1, D-64291 Darmstadt
Postfach 110552, D-64220, Darmstadt

Telephone: +49 6159 71 2664/2694
Telefax: +49 6159 71 2992
E-mail: hoffmann@physik.tu-darmstadt.de

Director:	Henning, Walter F.
Plasma Physics Division:	Hoffmann, Dieter H.H.
Heavy Ion Driver Physics:	Hofmann, Ingo

Research activities:
Objectives of research are key issues of energy generation by inertial confinement fusion (IFE) with heavy ion beams. The main tool for this purpose at GSI is an accelerator facility with beams of ions species up to uranium and beam energies up to 2GeV/Nucleon. This facility consists of (a) an rf accelerator (UNILAC), (b) a heavy ion synchrotron (SIS) and (c) a storage and cooler ring (ESR) and is used for the investigation of IFE relevant problems in two areas, accelerator and target physics.

Issues of beam dynamics presently investigated by experiments and by simulations are instabilities of space-charge dominated beams in storage rings, emittance growth, fast bunching and related phenomena. Issues of target physics are the interaction of heavy ion beams with plasmas (stopping power, charge-state distribution) and the physics of dense plasmas.

The plasmas are created by a laser beam (Nd-glass laser, 200J) and by the heavy ion beam. Most specific for the use of heavy ion beams is the creation of plasmas at high densities in an extended volume. By a recent intensity upgrade of the GSI accelerator facility, plasma temperatures up to 10 eV shall be reached at solid state density. Several German University groups are involved in these investigations (Darmstadt, Erlangen, Frankfurt, Greifswald, München Rostock).

A heavy ion fusion driver concept (HIDIF) has been elaborated in the framework of a European Study Group established by GSI, FZK Karlsruhe, DENIM Madrid, and ENEA Frascati, and in collaboration with CERN, Rutherford Appleton Lab., ITEP Moscow, VNIIEF Sarov, FZ Jülich, LBL Berkeley, Madrid University, Naples University, Bologna University, and Orsay University.

A petawatt high-energy laser, PHELIX, to be used for plasma physics and target research (also in combination with heavy ion beams) is under construction and will deliver laser beams (1 PW, 1kJ) in 2002. A new accelerator project (extension to higher energy and intensity) is proposed by GSI. Research at this future facility will include investigations on key issues of inertial fusion.

Funding is provided by GSI, by National Research Grants (BMBF), ISTC and EC.