Indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion using highly supersonic, radiatively cooled, plasma slugs.
We present a new approach to indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion which makes use of highly supersonic, radiatively cooled, slugs of plasma to energize a hohlraum. 2D resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of slug formation in shaped liner Z-pinch implosions are presented along with 2D-radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of the slug impacting a converter foil and 3D-view-factor simulations of a double-ended hohlraum. Results for the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratory indicate that two synchronous slugs of 250 kJ kinetic energy could be produced, resulting in a capsule surface temperature of approximately 225 eV.
Chittenden
J P
JP
Imperial College, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom.
Dunne
M
M
Zepf
M
M
Lebedev
S V
SV
Ciardi
A
A
Bland
S N
SN