Fundamental factors affecting thermonuclear ignition. (30th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cheng, Baolian; Bradley, Paul A.; Finnegan, Sean M.; Thomas, Cliff A.
• Is Part Of: Nuclear fusion. Volume 61:Number 9(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07-30
• Subjects: inertial confinement fusion -- thermonuclear ignition -- ignition threshold; Nuclear fusion -- Periodicals; 621.48405
• DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/ac12ea
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0029-5515

Abstract

Abstract: Recent inertial confinement fusion experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have improved performance and interpretability. These results help us address hydrodynamic efficiency, pusher adiabat, tamping, and hot-spot confinement as they pertain to criteria for ignition. We present requirements for propagating burn that are stringent compared to existing literature. The effects of the pusher adiabat on the energy partition for the cold and hot DT are addressed, as well as the persistent discrepancy between the observed and simulated neutron down scattering ratio. The required energy for achieving ignition on NIF and paths forward to optimize or increase the capsule yields for given laser energy are also discussed.