Hemispherical Capsule Implosions for Fast Ignition*

The fast ignitor approach to ICF ignition separates the fuel assembly and fast heating processes. After compressing the fuel with the main driver, the fuel is ignited using a focused electron or ion beam generated by a fast, ultra-high power laser pulse. This significantly relaxes the drive symmetry, energy, and shock timing requirements compared to hot spot ignition. A hemispherical capsule target is a fast ignitor geometry well-adapted to symmetric fuel compression by a single-ended z-pinch radiation drive. The hemispherical capsule implodes radially, constrained at its equator by a flat high-density surface (a special case of the spherical capsule "cone-focus" geometry). This glide plane is mounted on a hollow pedestal that provides a plasma-free, short-pulse laser path to the compressed fuel core region. In experiments on the Z accelerator at Sandia, we are studying implosions of 2.0-mm-diameter, 60-micron-thick hemispherical capsules in cylindrical secondary hohlraums heated to 90-100 eV from one end by a 120 TW wire-array z-pinch. Analysis of ZBL 6.7 keV point-projection backlighter images of pole-hot implosions in a tall secondary and 6.18 keV monochromatic crystal backlighter images of more symmetric implosions in a short secondary will be presented. We will also discuss progress on the development of a cryogenic liquid fuel target for this fast ignitor compression geometry. * Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.