Enhanced energy coupling for indirectly driven inertial confinement fusion

Ping, Y.; Smalyuk, V. A.; Amendt, P.; Tommasini, R.; Field, J. E.; Khan, S.; Bennett, D.; Dewald, E.; Graziani, F.; Johnson, S.; Landen, O. L.; MacPhee, A. G.; Nikroo, A.; Pino, J.; Prisbrey, S.; Ralph, J.; Seugling, R.; Strozzi, D.; Tipton, R. E.; Wang, Y. M.; Loomis, E.; Merritt, E.; Montgomery, D.

doi:10.1038/s41567-018-0331-5

Title: Enhanced energy coupling for indirectly driven inertial confinement fusion

Journal Article · Mon Oct 29 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Nature Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0331-5· OSTI ID:1507330

^[1]; Smalyuk, V. A. ^[1]; Amendt, P. ^[1]; Tommasini, R. ^[1]; Field, J. E. ^[1]; Khan, S. ^[1]; Bennett, D. ^[1]; Dewald, E. ^[1]; Graziani, F. ^[1]; Johnson, S. ^[1]; Landen, O. L. ^[1]; MacPhee, A. G. ^[1]; Nikroo, A. ^[1]; Pino, J. ^[1]; Prisbrey, S. ^[1]; Ralph, J. ^[1]; Seugling, R. ^[1]; Strozzi, D. ^[1]; Tipton, R. E. ^[1];

^[1] more »

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

The indirect drive scheme for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) employs x-rays generated within a high-Z cavity (hohlraum) to implode an embedded low-Z capsule filled with deuterium- tritium (DT) fuel to reach the high density and temperature required for thermonuclear burn. Recently, several cylinder hohlraum experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have reached the alpha-heating regime [1] where the self-heating by fusion products becomes dominant, producing neutron yields above 1 1016 [2{ 4]. However, there are still challenges on the path towards ignition, such as symmetry control, instability minimization and engineering feature mitigation [5]. Energy coupling from a cylindrical hohlraum to the capsule is typically less than 10%, or 150 kJ for a 1.9 MJ laser drive [1], thereby limiting the energy available in the final hot spot for fusion. Here we report the first experiment on NIF demonstrating 30% energy coupling to an Al capsule in a rugby-shaped Au hohlraum [6]. This high coupling efficiency can substantially enhance the performance margin and improve the prospects for ignition, both in mainline single- shell hot-spot designs and potential double-shell targets.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1507330

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1491646

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-18-21219; LLNL-JRNL-745363

Journal Information:: Nature Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 2; ISSN 1745-2473

Publisher:: Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 26 works

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