Simulation study of cone-in-shell target for indirect-drive ion fast ignition concept under the theory of an effective interaction potential

Abstract

The stopping power of charged particles released by the deuterium–tritium nuclear reactions has been extensively studied in the weakly to moderately coupled plasma regimes. We have modified the conventional effective potential theory (EPT) stopping framework to have a practical connection to investigate the ions energy loss characteristics in fusion plasma. Our modified EPT model differs from the original EPT framework by a coefficient of order $$1 + {2 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {2 {(5}}} \right. \kern-0pt} {(5}}\ln \overline{\Xi }),$$ 1 + 2 / ( 5 ln Ξ ¯ ) , ($$\ln \overline{\Xi }$$ ln Ξ ¯ is a velocity-dependent generalization of the Coulomb logarithm). Molecular dynamics simulations agree well with our modified stopping framework. To study the role of related stopping formalisms in ion fast ignition, we simulate the cone-in-shell configuration under laser-accelerated aluminum beam incidence. In ignition/burn phase, the performance of our modified model is in agreement with its original form and the conventional Li-Petrasso (LP) and Brown-Preston-Singleton (BPS) theories. The LP theory indicates the fastest rate in providing ignition/burn condition. Our modified EPT model with a discrepancy of $$\sim$$ ∼ 9%, has the most agreement with LP theory, while that of the original EPT (with a discrepancy of $$\sim$$ ∼ 47% to LP) and BPS (with a discrepancy of $$\sim$$ ∼ 48% to LP) methods maintain the third and fourth contributions in accelerating the ignition time, respectively.