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Demonstration of a hydrodynamically equivalent burning plasma in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion

Journal Article · · Nature Physics
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  1. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, NY (United States); Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester
  2. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, NY (United States)
  3. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, NY (United States); Focused Energy, Austin, TX (United States)
  4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  5. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Focussing laser light onto the surface of a small target filled with deuterium and tritium implodes it and leads to the creation of a hot and dense plasma, in which thermonuclear fusion reactions occur. In order for the plasma to become self-sustaining, the heating of the plasma must be dominated by the energy provided by the fusion reactions—a condition known as a burning plasma. A metric for this is the generalized Lawson parameter, where values above around 0.8 imply a burning plasma. Here, we report on hydro-equivalent scaling of experimental results on the OMEGA laser system and show that these have achieved core conditions that reach a burning plasma when the central part of the plasma, the hotspot, is scaled in size by at least a factor of 3.9 ± 0.10, which would require a driver laser energy of at least 1.7 ± 0.13 MJ. In addition, we hydro-equivalently scale the results to the 2.15 MJ of laser energy available at the National Ignition Facility and find that these implosions reach 86% of the Lawson parameter required for ignition. Furthermore, our results support direct-drive inertial confinement fusion as a credible approach for achieving thermonuclear ignition and net energy in laser fusion.
Research Organization:
University of Rochester, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0003856; SC0021072; SC0022132; SC0024381
OSTI ID:
2372905
Journal Information:
Nature Physics, Journal Name: Nature Physics Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 20; ISSN 1745-2473
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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