Direct-Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Research at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics
Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) offers the possibility of significantly higher gains than indirect-drive ICF for the same laser energy. The primary mission of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) is to validate the direct-drive approach to ICF in anticipation of adding direct-drive capability on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the subsequent achievement of direct-drive ignition. LLE's research includes target design for direct-drive ignition experiments on the NIF, performance of cryogenic and noncryogenic target experiments on the 60-beam, 30-kJ OMEGA laser, diagnostic and target development for OMEGA and the NIF, and studies of key aspects of direct-drive ICF physics, including Rayleigh-Taylor instability, laser imprinting, and laser-plasma interactions. This paper reviews the progress made on the direct-drive physics program at LLE including a discussion of the "all-DT" target design for NIF direct-drive ignition, results from surrogate cryogenic "warm" targt experiments on OMEGA, and the first cryogenic capsule implosion experiments on the 60-bea OMEGA.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States). Lab. for Laser Energetics
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC52-92SF19460
- OSTI ID:
- 908774
- Report Number(s):
- DE/SF19460-757; 2001-47; 1719; TRN: US0703765
- Journal Information:
- Current Trends in International Fusion Research-Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium, edited by C.D. Orth and E. Panarella (NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Canada, 2007), Conference: Fourth Symposium on Current Trends in International Fusion Research, Washington, DC, 12-16 March 2001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion: A review