High yield diamond ablator designs for a 2.6-10 MJ laser driver

Laser indirect- drive designs at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have successfully achieved scientific ignition [1] and high fusion yields with target gains exceeding unity [2]. This study investigates new diamond ablator designs for a larger-scale laser driver (up to 10 MJ), extending beyond NIF's current 2.2 MJ limit, with the potential to produce tens to hundreds of MJ of fusion energy. We explore designs for an upgraded NIF laser to 2.6 MJ as well as a range of designs for a next generationi 10 MJ laser driver. We adopt a similar design methodology to what is used in current high-yield NIF implosions, and benchmark simulations against a range of experimental data. We constrain the implosion design parameters to scale from a well understood or tested parameter space at NIF as well asand explore new physics regimes. Design variations aimed at increasing total fuel and ablator areal density and enhancing fuel burn-up include scaling up the size of the implosion, using thicker diamond ablators, increasing fuel mass, modifying the capsule dopant profile, modifying the laser pulse shaping, and improving hohlraum efficiency and implosion symmetry.

[1] A. L. Kritcher et al., Phys. Rev. E 106, 025201 (2022)

[2] A. L. Kritcher et al., Phys. Rev. E 109, 025204 (2024)