Fast ignition of inertial fusion targets by laser-driven carbon beams
- ETSI Aeronauticos, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544 (United States)
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
Two-dimensional simulations of ion beam driven fast ignition are presented. Ignition energies of protons with Maxwellian spectrum and carbon ions with quasimonoenergetic and Maxwellian energy distributions are evaluated. The effect of the coronal plasma surrounding the compressed deuterium-tritium is studied for three different fuel density distributions. It is found that quasimonoenergetic ions have better coupling with the compressed deuterium-tritium and substantially lower ignition energies. Comparison of quasimonoenergetic carbon ions and relativistic electrons as ignitor beams shows similar laser energy requirements, provided that a laser to quasimonoenergetic carbon ion conversion efficiency around 10% can be achieved.
- OSTI ID:
- 21272722
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3234248; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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