Experimental Studies of Implosion of Indirectly Driven DT-Filled Targets

Abstract

It is an important subject at present in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) field that balloon targets are irradiated by laser to cause thermonuclear fusion. Laser driven modes may generally be divided into two kinds: indirect drive and direct drive according to process of energy transportation. Direct drive means: laser directly aims at fuel pellet, laser energy is conducted from absorption region to ablation surface by electron conduction. This is a drive mode with high efficiency, but the requirement for irradiation homogeneity is very strict. Indirect drive means: laser energy is first converted to X-ray energy, then fuel pellet contained in hohlraum target is driven by the X-ray. Indirect drive greatly reduces requirements for homogeneity and symmetry of beams, but it is a two-step process, and efficiency is probably low.