Light for controlled fusion energy: A perspective on laser-driven inertial fusion

Abstract

The status of laser-driven inertial confinement fusion research is briefly reviewed. The recent major achievement of fusion energy release exceeding the energy delivered by the laser to the fuel (Hurricane O. et al., Nature, 506 (2014) 343), and the efforts towards ignition demonstration using indirect-drive are discussed. Physics model reliability is addressed. The potentials of alternative schemes, in particular direct-drive shock ignition, are also illustrated