Ion Thermal Decoupling and Species Separation in Shock-Driven Implosions
- MIT (Massachusetts Inst. of Technology), Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Science and Fusion Center
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Lab. for Laser Energetics, Rochester, NY (United States)
- General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
Here, anomalous reduction of the fusion yields by 50% and anomalous scaling of the burn-averaged ion temperatures with the ion-species fraction has been observed for the first time in D3He-filled shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions. Two ion kinetic mechanisms are used to explain the anomalous observations: thermal decoupling of the D and 3He populations and diffusive species separation. The observed insensitivity of ion temperature to a varying deuterium fraction is shown to be a signature of ion thermal decoupling in shock-heated plasmas. The burn-averaged deuterium fraction calculated from the experimental data demonstrates a reduction in the average core deuterium density, as predicted by simulations that use a diffusion model. Accounting for each of these effects in simulations reproduces the observed yield trends.
- Research Organization:
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Science and Fusion Center; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- NA0002035; NA0001857; B600100; 415023-G; 415935-G; AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1172519
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1181154; OSTI ID: 1256450
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-685666; PRLTAO; ArticleNumber: 025001
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 114, Issue 2; ISSN 0031-9007
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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