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New target designs for direct-drive ICF

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 1999

LEE PHILLIPS
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Computational Physics and Fluid Dynamics, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20375-5344, USA
JOHN H. GARDNER
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Computational Physics and Fluid Dynamics, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20375-5344, USA
STEPHEN E. BODNER
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., USA
DENIS COLOMBANT
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., USA
S.P. OBENSCHAIN
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., USA
A.J. SCHMITT
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., USA
JILL P. DAHLBURG
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., USA
TOM LEHECKA
Affiliation:
Science Applications International Corporation, Applied Physics Operations, McLean, VA, USA
MARCEL KLAPISCH
Affiliation:
ARTEP, Inc., Columbia, MD, USA
AVRAHAM BAR-SHALOM
Affiliation:
Science Applications International Corporation, Applied Physics Operations, McLean, VA, USA

Abstract

We describe two approaches to the design of a direct-drive high-gain pellet for inertial confinement fusion reactors that has enhanced stability due to the reduction in the Rayleigh-Taylor growth rate and enhanced thermal smoothing of laser imprint. The first design incorporates an overcoat containing a high-Z element that radiatively heats the ablator during the foot of the laser pulse. The second incorporates a very low density foam ablator that is compressed by a series of transmitted and reflected shocks. Both designs enhance thermal smoothing by developing a very long density scale length and high electron densities in the ablator blowoff.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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