title: Laser-driven inertial ion focusing.
abstract: A Hohlraum-like configuration is proposed for realizing a simple compact source for neutrons. A laser pulse enters a tiny thin-shelled hollow-sphere target through a small opening and is self-consistently trapped in the cavity. The electrons in the inner shell-wall region are expelled by the light pressure. The resulting space-charge field compresses the local ions into a thin layer that becomes strongly heated. An inward expansion of ions into the shell cavity then occurs, resulting in the formation at the cavity center of a hot spot of ions at high density and temperature, similar to that in inertial electrostatic confinement.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory for Parallel and Distributed Processing, School of Computer Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China. zhb_pic_2d@sina.com
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Z M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang