Fast ignition of a compressed inertial confinement fusion hemispherical capsule by two proton beams
- Edificio San Roque calle Beni, 4B, Sucre (Bolivia)
A hemispherical conically guided indirectly driven inertial confinement fusion capsule has been considered. The fast ignition of the precompressed capsule driven by one or two laser-accelerated proton beams has been numerically investigated. The energy distribution of the protons is Gaussian with a mean energy of 12 MeV and a full width at half maximum of 1 MeV. A new scheme that uses two laser-accelerated proton beams is proposed. It is found that the energy deposition of 1 kJ provided by a first proton beam generates a low-density cylindrical channel and launches a forward shock. A second proton beam, delayed by a few tens of ps and driving the energy of 6 kJ, crosses the low-density channel and heats the dense shocked region where the ignition of the deuterium-tritium nuclear fuel is achieved. For the considered capsule, this new two-beam configuration reduces the ignition energy threshold to 7 kJ.
- OSTI ID:
- 20860449
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 13, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2400592; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Inertial Confinement Fusion Materials Science
Reduced scale National Ignition Facility capsule design