Fusion Dust
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Fusion dust, a key component of many micronuclear devices, is a magnetoarcane mixture typically consisting of amber, gold nanoflakes, sunsail nanoparticles, and mithral vapor-filled metallic hydrogen bubbles. Fusion dust can be found in high-energy lasers, microfission reactors, emergency flares, and neutron charges, among other devices, The isotopic makeup of the metallic hydrogen varies from composition to composition; D-T is often used, but tritium-suppressed D-D is preferred for most applications due to its reduced radioactivity and greater affinity towards kinetic converters.
Perfected by Archipelago Atomics and a team led by the enigmatic Anaszcan Maciha Zagramen in 2340 SSD, fusion dust and its underlying principles revolutionised the energetic materials industry. Though its radioactivity and high activation threshold limited its applications, chemical cells using similar mixtures emerged with unparalleled power densities, revolutionising the field of handheld energy weapons.
Operating Principle
When fusion dust is imploded, the rapidly compressing mithral vapour and sunsail nanoparticles, magically charged and shifted out of phase by the disintegrating amber, generates an induced cross-dimensional arcane field such that a negative Starheart monopole is formed at the locus of each fuel bubble. Stabilised by the arcanocapacitive properties of amber-gold compound, these microportals provide leakless confinement of the decomposing, imploding fusion fuel; due to the phasing effect of Starheart energy, the resulting fusion plasma can reach extremely high density without experiencing plasma instabilities.
When these microportals collapse, the fusion plasma phases into realspace at densities comparable to those achieved by thermonuclear bombs.
It is suspected by some in the Academia Arcanos that the principles of fusion dust are at least partially related to those employed in early Pre-Silence nova weapons of Conclave make; the Navigator has personally sponsored several investigations of Maciha Zagramen and SHIMAD, but has so far failed to find incriminating evidence.