The Fast Ignitor is an alternate approach to ICF in which short pulse lasers are used to initiate burn at the surface of the compressed DT fuel. The aim is to avoid the need for careful central focussing of final shocks, and possibly to lower substantially the energy requirements for ignition. Ultimately, both goals may prove crucial to Stockpile Stewardship. For success with the Fast Ignitor, the laser energy must be efficiently deposited into megavolt electrons, which must, in turn, couple to the background ions within an alpha particle range. To understand this coupling, we have used ANTHEM plasma simulation …
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Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
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New Mexico
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The Fast Ignitor is an alternate approach to ICF in which short pulse lasers are used to initiate burn at the surface of the compressed DT fuel. The aim is to avoid the need for careful central focussing of final shocks, and possibly to lower substantially the energy requirements for ignition. Ultimately, both goals may prove crucial to Stockpile Stewardship. For success with the Fast Ignitor, the laser energy must be efficiently deposited into megavolt electrons, which must, in turn, couple to the background ions within an alpha particle range. To understand this coupling, we have used ANTHEM plasma simulation code to model the transport of hot electrons generated by an intense ({ge} 3 x 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}) short pulse 1.06 {mu}m laser into plasma targets over a broad range of densities (0.35 to 10{sup 4} x n{sub crit}). Ponderomotive effects are included as a force on the cold background and hot emission electrons of the form, F{sub h,c} = -({omega}{sup 2}{sub Ph,c}/2{omega}{sup 2}){del}I, in which I is the laser intensity and {omega}{sub p}{sup 2} = 4{pi}e{sup 2}n/m{sub 0}{gamma} with m{sub 0} the electron rest mass.
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