Designing Polar Direct Drive Spherical Targets for a 10MJ Laser Facility

The future of inertial fusion energy (IFE) as a viable green energy source requires development in all areas from target manufacturing to power plant operation, thus simplifying the requirements and components will lead to the best chance of success. Thus, we are evaluating the design of a spherical capsule for a polar direct drive laser facility at sufficiently powers for maximal power production by neutron as a viable avenue for future high rep-rate experimental platforms. Using Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) xRage radiation hydrodynamics simulations code benchmarked through experiments using the common model framework (CMF), our design is intended for a 10MJ laser facility. Specifically, we are designing based on the high rep-rate two sided illimitation concept from Xcimer Energy adapted for a direct drive only target. For these designs we are using shaped, time dependent energy profiles and explore the impacts of implosion symmetry and target design on the estimated yield. This work is intended to explore the laser requirements, target robustness, physics impacts, and target manufacturing need of polar direct drive target designs intended for IFE. This document has been provided release under the identifier LA-UR-25-27428.