Theory and calculation of the energy loss of charged particles in inertial confinement fusion burning plasmas

Abstract

In the overall design of an inertial fusion reactor driven by ion beams or lasers the target design plays a central role. The concept of central ignition is used to reduce the input energy of the driver as much as possible. In this respect, the range of the 3.5 MeV alpha particles at 1-20 keV released by the fusion reactions in D-T is crucial for estimating the driver parameters. Further, for the calculation of the pellet gain and the burn processes, the ranges of alpha particles at temperatures up to 200 keV and at densities up to 1000 g*cnf 3 must be accurately known. The 14.1 MeV neutrons produced during the D-T reaction can collide with the deuterium and tritium ions and produce suprathermal knock-on ions which then slow down in the background plasma. This effect must also be calculated, especially for reactor-size pellets for which the pellet pR is comparable to the neutron mean free path. The stopping power of low atomic fusion products and deuterium and tritium ions in D-T is calculated, using the dielectric function theory for the stopping power of electrons. The theory of the energy deposition of ions in fully ionized, quantum and classical, ideal and non-ideal dense plasmas is reviewed. The GORGON computer code is used for the numerical calculations. The results obtained are compared with the results of other authors and with their theoretical methods.

Analysis of compression and burn of ion-beam inertial fusion targets including radiation transport

“…In these target simulations we have used local e-particle deposition. In order to take account of the effect of e-particle transport on ignition we switch on nuclear reactions in the hot spot when The> 107K and [pR]h>0.4 g/cm 2, which is the range of the e-particles (at typical densities and temperatures encountered in the hot spot) according to our calculations [28]. In these target simulations the void closes at t=41.99 ns and the hot spot pR becomes ~0.4 g/cm 2 at t =45.96 ns.…”

Physics of ablative Rayleigh–Taylor and Landau–Darrieus instabilities

“…The ignition of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target is one of the most expected events that will surely boost the search for a new source of energy based on the thermonuclear fusion [1][2][3][4]. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) at the ablation front is one of the most important factors determining the minimum energy required for ignition and high gain [5][6][7][8].…”

Two-dimensional thermal simulations of aluminum and carbon ion strippers for experiments at SPIRAL2 using the highest beam intensities

“…Intense particle beams [1][2][3][4][5][6] have become a very attractive new tool to study numerous branches of physics, for example, inertial confinement fusion (ICF) [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], high energy density (HED) physics [13,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] and for the production of beams of rare isotopes [26][27][28][29][30][31]. A new facility, SPIRAL2 (Systéme de Production d'Ions RAdiocatifs en ligne 2eme generation or French acronym for online Production System of Radioactive Ions 2nd generation) at Caen, France, is under construction and will be able to deliver intense stable ion beams [34].…”