'The goal is to reach a steady-state with continuous energy generation. Plasma instabilities are not merely unwelcome; they can also cause serious damage to a device.
And now for the big difference. The DPF, in contrast,
exploits instabilities as the main mechanism for reaching fusion conditions. This opposite philosophy is one reason why the plasma focus has tended to be overlooked in the context of mainline efforts to realize fusion energy.
..
Lerner’s experiments’ plasmoids are extremely small – only a fraction of a millimeter across, amounting to about a millionth of the original plasma volume.
Most of the energy of the discharge is now concentrated in this tiny space. Here the plasma is confined and compressed by super-strong magnetic fields generated by the current filaments. Inside the plasmoid, the energy of the rapidly-moving electrons and ions is transformed into heat, creating temperatures of nearly 3 billion degrees.
At these temperatures, large numbers of fusion reactions occur. The total fusion output depends on a combination of the temperature, the fuel’s density in the plasmoid and the length of time the plasmoid “lives.”
In Lerner’s experiments, the plasmoid lasts only about 10 billionths of a second. Hence a major focus of the effort is to increase the plasmoid density as much as possible. Much progress has been made, but there is still a considerable way to go as we shall see in our series’ next and concluding installment.'
- Jonathan Tennenbaum,
Nuclear fusion the easy way, July 15, 2020
Context(Focus Fusion) - A low cost fusion future