LPP Submits Patent Application

The patent, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Producing X-rays, Ion Beams and Nuclear Fusion Energy”, covers the use of high magnetic fields (the magnetic field effect) in the production of fusion energy, the injection of angular momentum into the plasma sheath, and a new method of converting X-ray energy into electricity. It also describes how to combine these innovations into a functional fusion energy reactor.

The magnetic field effect is critical for Focus Fusion. By suppressing the transfer of energy from the ions to the electrons, the amount of energy lost to the plasma by the x-rays will be reduced, thus directing more energy into the plasmoid and gaining more fusion energy output. The effect only operates at extremely high fields, billions of times that of the Earth’s magnetic field. Based on work by Lerner, the patent describes how this strong magnetic field can be achieved by using small-diameter electrodes that intensify the initial magnetic field in the device.

The injection of angular momentum is important in the process of plasmoid formation. In a conventional plasma focus, a tiny amount of angular momentum conveyed by the earth’s magnetic field builds up during the time that the plasma sheath runs down the electrodes, just as a tiny amount of spin in water in a sink builds up to a substantial vortex when the drain empties. The longer the electrode, the more the angular momentum builds up and the larger the plasmoid. However, a long electrode does have drawbacks, such as requiring a lot of stored energy. In addition, small irregularities in the electrodes can impart varying amounts of initial angular momentum. Based on LPP VP Aaron Blake’s idea, the invention injects a larger initial angular momentum by giving the cathode electrodes a slight helical twist around the axis of the device or by generating a small initial axial magnetic field by means of a helical coil. In this way, the efficiency of energy transfer to the plasmoid is increased, and variations in output are reduced. This part of the invention can be applied not only to Focus Fusion, but to other applications as well, such as X-ray production.

A third innovation is the system for converting X-rays directly into electrical energy. While photoelectric converters have long been used in X-ray detectors, achieving high efficiency (around 80%) in converting high-energy X-rays to electricity is not easy, and Lerner describes in the invention a multilayer device to capture the X-ray energy.