Burn-wave propagation and magnetic transport around stagnation for magnetized indirect-drive ICF

With ignition reached by N221204, the next milestone for ICF is to obtain a high yield. Magnetized hotspot ICF offers a path to attain a high yield, e.g., > 20 MJ, with laser energy in the 2.0 – 2.2 MJ range. The embedded B field does not impede burn propagations. The B field confines the alpha particles in the interior region of the hotspot, where the ratio of alpha gyro radius to hotspot radius Ra <0.2 and the electron Hall parameter Xe >10, to shorten the effective alpha range for enhanced energy deposition, but not at the outer region of the hotspot and the burn front, where Ra >1 and Xe <10, to impede burn propagation. Magnetic diffusion and Nernst advection are present in the assembled configurations. Nernst advection is negligible, but a fraction of the flux-compressed magnetic field, e.g., 20%, can diffuse away from the interior region of the hotspot; its effect on yield is, however, not significant. In contrast, in MagLIF, there are pronounced magnetic diffusion and Nernst advection, because of the long implosion time, and can lead to yield degradation of up to 80%.