Three-dimensional fast electron transport for ignition-scale inertial fusion capsules

Three-dimensional hybrid PIC simulations are presented to study electron energy transport and deposition in a full-scale fast ignition configuration. Multi-prong core heating close to ignition is found when a few GA, few PW beam is injected. Resistive beam filamentation in the corona seeds the 3D current pattern that penetrates the core. Ohmic heating is important in the low-density corona, while classical Coulomb deposition heats the core. Here highest energy densities (few Tbar at 10 keV) are observed at densities above 200 g/cc. Energy coupling to the core ranges from 20 to 30%; it is enhanced by beam collimation and decreases when raising the beam particle energy from 1.5 to 5.5 MeV.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Proton-beam driven fast ignition of inertially confined fuels: Reduction of the ignition energy by the use of two proton beams with radially shaped profiles

Fast ignition of a spherical compressed deuterium-tritium assembly induced by the energy deposition of laser-accelerated proton beams is considered. An efficient way to reduce the ignition energy consists of using a two proton beams scheme [M. Temporal, Phys Plasmas 13, 122704 (2006)]. For a uniformly compressed fuel at 500 g/cm(3) irradiated by proton beams with Maxwellian energy distribution with a temperature of 4 MeV, the ignition energy is 10 kJ using only one proton beam and reduces to a total of 8 kJ with the two-beam scheme. Further reduction of the ignition energy is found by using a first beam with annular radial profile and a second beam with the uniform radial profile. It is found that the first beam causes some additional fuel compression and confinement that decrease the total beam energy required for the ignition to 6 kJ, which is 40% smaller than in the case of a single beam with uniform radial profile. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics

Fast ignition by quasimonoenergetic ion beams

The potential of quasimonoenergetic ion beams for fast ignition (FI) of fusion targets is investigated. Lithium, carbon, aluminium and vanadium ions have been considered here to determine the optimal kinetic energy for each ion type. Our calculations show that the ignition energies of those beams impinging on a standard fuel configuration are similar. However, they are obtained for very different ion energies. Assuming that the ions can be focused onto 10 μm spots, a new irradiation scheme that reduces substantially the ignition energies is proposed. The combination of using intermediate ions, such as 5.5 GeV vanadium, and the new irradiation scheme allows one to reduce the number of ions required for ignition by roughly three orders of magnitude when compared with the standard proton FI scheme

Numerical and Theoretical Studies of Basic Issues for Fast Ignition: from Fast Particle Generation to Beam Driven Ignition

In all recently proposed schemes for laser-driven Fast Ignition (FI) of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) targets, two key elements are the conversion of the energy of a Petawatt laser pulse into a beam of strongly relativistic electrons and its transport through a dense plasma or a solid target. The electron beam may either drive ignition directly or be exploited to accelerate a proton beam which in turn is used to ignite the target. Both approaches to FI involve a number of physical processes that are challenging for theory and simulation. In this paper, theoretical and numerical investigations are presented concerning several fundamental issues of relevance to FI, including electron beam instabilities, electron transport in solid-density materials, and requirements for proton beam driven ignition