Hemispherical Capsule Implosion Measurements in a Z-Pinch-Driven Fast Ignitor Fuel Compression Geometry
Abstract
In the fast ignitor approach to inertial fusion [Tabak et al., Phys. Plasmas 1, 1626 (1994)], ignition is produced by heating highly-compressed fuel with a fast, ultra-high power laser pulse. By separating the fuel compression and fast heating processes, symmetry and energy requirements for ignition are significantly relaxed. Laser propagation issues can be avoided by maintaining a plasma-free path for the short-pulse laser [Kodama et al., Nature 412, 798 (2001)]. In experiments on the Z accelerator at Sandia, we are exploring a fast ignitor hohlraum geometry uniquely adapted to fuel compression with a single-sided z-pinch radiation drive [Hanson et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 2173 (2002)]. In this geometry, a hemispherical capsule mounted on a pedestal (short-pulse laser channel) is symmetrically imploded in a cylindrical secondary hohlraum heated by a single-wire-array z-pinch. Z-Beamlet point projection backlighter images of initial hemispherical capsule implosions on Z will be presented.
- Publication:
-
APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- November 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002APS..DPPKP1146H