APS Logo

Auxiliary heating of inertial confinement fusion capsules

ORAL

Abstract

The ‘auxiliary heating’ technique for ICF implosions is investigated, where relativistic electron beams are used to provide collisionless heating (via the generation and subsequent damping of Langmuir waves) of the central hotspot. Vlasov simulations have previously investigated this process in hotspot-relevant plasmas, and have demonstrated that it can result in a rapid rise in the temperature – with up to 18% of the beam energy being transferred to the plasma electrons. We have investigated the impact of this on fusion performance, by adding electron energy to zones within the hotspot of radiation hydrodynamic simulations of ICF implosions. We present the impact that this has on the yield of a range of different implosions, and estimate the gains that may be achieved using this technique (though these gains are highly dependent on how efficiently such electron beams can be generated). The results suggest that this approach is best suited to implosions which are close to break-even/ignition (rather than implosions which already achieve high gain), with the most optimistic predictions suggesting that it could be used to achieve breakeven for a total laser energy of around 1MJ.

–

Presenters

  • Robert W Paddock

    University of Oxford

Authors

  • Robert W Paddock

    University of Oxford

  • Peter A Norreys

    Rutherford Appleton Lab, University of Oxford

  • Tat Li

    University of Oxford

  • Eugene Kim

    University of Oxford

  • Jordan Lee

    University of Oxford

  • Heath Martin

    University of Oxford

  • Rusko T Ruskov

    University of Oxford

  • Robbie H Scott

    STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

  • Warren J Garbett

    AWE, AWE plc, Atomic Weapons Establishment

  • Brian M Haines

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, LANL, Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Alex Zylstra

    Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  • Michael Campbell

    Laboratory for Laser Energetics, MCM Consulting, University of Rochester

  • Timothy J Collins

    Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, University of Rochester, University of Rochester; LLE, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Stephen Craxton

    Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, University of Rochester

  • Cliff A Thomas

    Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), LLE

  • Valeri N Goncharov

    University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Ramy Aboushelbaya

    University of Oxford

  • Qingsong Feng

    University of Oxford

  • Marko W von der Leyen

    University of Oxford

  • Eduard Atonga

    University of Oxford

  • Abigail James

    University of Oxford

  • Sunny Howard

    University of Oxford

  • Iustin Ouatu

    University of Oxford

  • Ben T Spiers

    University of Oxford

  • Robin Timmis

    University of Oxford

  • Robin Wang

    University of Oxford