A pushered capsule implosion as an alternate approach to the ignition regime for inertial confinement fusion

MacLaren, S. A.; Ho, D. D.-M.; Hurricane, O. A.; Dewald, E. L.; Martinez, D. A.; Tipton, R. E.; Pino, J. E.; Young, C. V.; Xu, H. W.; Kong, C. W.; Sequoia, K.

doi:10.1063/5.0064971

A pushered capsule implosion as an alternate approach to the ignition regime for inertial confinement fusion

Journal Article · Wed Dec 15 23:00:00 EST 2021 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0064971· OSTI ID:1860748

^[1]; Ho, D. D.-M. ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; Tipton, R. E. ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; Xu, H. W. ^[2]; Kong, C. W. ^[2]; Sequoia, K. ^[2]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
General Atomics, La Jolla, CA (United States)

We report in inertial confinement fusion, the threshold for ignition is a highly dynamic quantity as the sources and sinks of power in the hot spot can vary rapidly. In this article, we consider the ignition condition as a race between heating and disassembly rates and make use of a prior solution to the fusion hot-spot thermodynamics to develop a Lawson-like ignition criteria for pressure × confinement time (p-τ) vs temperature. Low-Z capsule designs reach the temperature for this threshold using as much of the shell as feasible as ablator but then are limited in τ by low stagnated mass. An alternate approach, the pushered single shell (PSS) design [D. D.-M. Ho, S. MacLaren, and Y. Wang, “High-yield implosions via radiation trapping and high rho-R,” paper presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, 2018], introduces a dense inner layer of Mo-Be alloy that is smoothly graded outward to pure Be, increasing the confinement time at stagnation and lowering the temperature requirement at the ignition threshold. Here, we describe a PSS ignition design for the National Ignition Facility and use the theory as well as simulations to compare it with the low-Z capsule approach. Additionally, we show how an adjustment to the design is used to anticipate the effects of mixing at the fuel–ablator interface.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); General Atomics

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; 89233119CNA000063

OSTI ID:: 1860748

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-825074; 1038713

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 28; ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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