Symmetric Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions at Ultra-High Laser Energies
Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2010 papers
Abstract
Indirect-drive hohlraum experiments at the National Ignition Facility have demonstrated symmetric capsule implosions at unprecedented laser drive energies of 0.7 megajoule. One hundred and ninety-two simultaneously fired laser beams heat ignition-emulate hohlraums to radiation temperatures of 3.3 million kelvin, compressing 1.8-millimeter-diameter capsules by the soft x-rays produced by the hohlraum. Self-generated plasma optics gratings on either end of the hohlraum tune the laser power distribution in the hohlraum, which produces a symmetric x-ray drive as inferred from the shape of the capsule self-emission. These experiments indicate that the conditions are suitable for compressing deuterium-tritium-filled capsules, with the goal of achieving burning fusion plasmas and energy gain in the laboratory.
Related Papers
- → Mitigating the impact of hohlraum asymmetries in National Ignition Facility implosions using capsule shims(2016)24 cited
- → Hydroscaling indirect-drive implosions on the National Ignition Facility(2022)13 cited
- Demonstration of implosion symmetry in NIF scale 0.7 Hohlraums(2024)
- → Reproducibility of hohlraum-driven implosion symmetry on the National Ignition Facility(2013)
- Mitigating the impact of hohlraum asymmetries in National Ignition Facility implosions using capsule shims(2016)