Target design for high fusion yield with the double Z-pinch-driven hohlraum
- Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1186 (United States)
A key demonstration on the path to inertial fusion energy is the achievement of high fusion yield (hundreds of MJ) and high target gain. Toward this goal, an indirect-drive high-yield inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target involving two Z-pinch x-ray sources heating a central secondary hohlraum is described by Hammer et al. [Phys. Plasmas 6, 2129 (1999)]. In subsequent research at Sandia National Laboratories, theoretical/computational models have been developed and an extensive series of validation experiments have been performed to study hohlraum energetics, capsule coupling, and capsule implosion symmetry for this system. These models have been used to design a high-yield Z-pinch-driven ICF target that incorporates the latest experience in capsule design, hohlraum symmetry control, and x-ray production by Z pinches. An x-ray energy output of 9 MJ per pinch, suitably pulse-shaped, is sufficient for this concept to drive 0.3-0.5 GJ capsules. For the first time, integrated two-dimensional (2D) hohlraum/capsule radiation-hydrodynamics simulations have demonstrated adequate hohlraum coupling, time-dependent radiation symmetry control, and the successful implosion, ignition, and burn of a high-yield capsule in the double Z-pinch hohlraum. An important new feature of this target design is mode-selective symmetry control: the use of burn-through shields offset from the capsule that selectively tune certain low-order asymmetry modes (P{sub 2},P{sub 4}) without significantly perturbing higher-order modes and without a significant energy penalty. This paper will describe the capsule and hohlraum design that have produced 0.4-0.5 GJ yields in 2D simulations, provide a preliminary estimate of the Z-pinch load and accelerator requirements necessary to drive the system, and suggest future directions for target design work.
- OSTI ID:
- 20975060
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 14, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2472364; (c) 2007 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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Related Subjects
ACCELERATORS
CAPSULES
DESIGN
FUSION YIELD
HYDRODYNAMICS
ICF DEVICES
IMPLOSIONS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
INERTIAL FUSION DRIVERS
PLASMA
PLASMA SIMULATION
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES
SYMMETRY
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TIME DEPENDENCE
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
VALIDATION
X RADIATION
X-RAY SOURCES