Record Energetics for an Inertial Fusion Implosion at NIF

Zylstra, A. B.; Kritcher, Andrea; Hurricane, O. A.; Callahan, D. A.; Baker, K. L.; Braun, Tom; Casey, D. T.; Clark, Daniel; Clark, KN; Döppner, T.; Divol, L.; Hinkel, D. E.; Hohenberger, M.; Kong, C.; Landen, O. L.; Nikroo, A.; Pak, A.; Patel, P. K.; Ralph, J. E.; Rice, N.; Tommasini, R.; Schoff, M. E.; Stadermann, Michael; Strozzi, D. J.; Weber, Christopher; Young, C. V.; Wild, C.; Town, R. P. J.; Edwards, M. J.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.126.025001

Cited by 90 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Four experiments with these new designs have been conducted that have generated record performance at NIF, with triple the fusion yield compared to past experiments 4,19,21 , to a maximum of approximately 170 kJ reported here. The experiments are referred to by an experiment number denoting the date of the experiment (for example, in the format NYYMMDD, where YY = year, MM = month and DD = day).…”

mentioning

confidence: 82%

“…In this and the following figures, historical data from NIF are shown from refs. 4,14,15,[19][20][21][29][30][31] , labelled by the names of those predecessor campaigns.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For comparison, we include a set of previous high-performing NIF experiments from refs. 4,19,21 . The abscissa of Fig.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…We use the lasers to generate X-rays in a radiation cavity to indirectly drive a fuel-containing capsule via the X-ray ablation pressure, which results in the implosion process compressing and heating the fuel via mechanical work. The burning-plasma state was created using a strategy to increase the spatial scale of the capsule 2,3 through two different implosion concepts [4][5][6][7] . These experiments show fusion self-heating in excess of the mechanical work injected into the implosions, satisfying several burning-plasma metrics 3,8 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1), intercepting the inner beams and thereby suppressing drive at the hohlraum waist 22,23 . Two tactics have been used to enable symmetry control with more efficient hohlraums driving larger capsules: adjusting cross-beam energy transfer between the outer to inner beams 4,24,25 by changing the laser wavelength separation (Δλ); and incorporating a pocket in the hohlraum wall at the outer beam location to delay the bubble propagation 5 . These tactics have been used to design higher-efficiency hohlraums that control symmetry; we use these hohlraums to drive capsules that are about 10% larger than prior experiments to realize the strategy for achieving a burning plasma laid out in a previous work 2 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Burning plasma achieved in inertial fusion

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Obtaining a burning plasma is a critical step towards self-sustaining fusion energy1. A burning plasma is one in which the fusion reactions themselves are the primary source of heating in the plasma, which is necessary to sustain and propagate the burn, enabling high energy gain. After decades of fusion research, here we achieve a burning-plasma state in the laboratory. These experiments were conducted at the US National Ignition Facility, a laser facility delivering up to 1.9 megajoules of energy in pulses with peak powers up to 500 terawatts. We use the lasers to generate X-rays in a radiation cavity to indirectly drive a fuel-containing capsule via the X-ray ablation pressure, which results in the implosion process compressing and heating the fuel via mechanical work. The burning-plasma state was created using a strategy to increase the spatial scale of the capsule2,3 through two different implosion concepts4–7. These experiments show fusion self-heating in excess of the mechanical work injected into the implosions, satisfying several burning-plasma metrics3,8. Additionally, we describe a subset of experiments that appear to have crossed the static self-heating boundary, where fusion heating surpasses the energy losses from radiation and conduction. These results provide an opportunity to study α-particle-dominated plasmas and burning-plasma physics in the laboratory.

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mentioning

confidence: 82%

“…In this and the following figures, historical data from NIF are shown from refs. 4,14,15,[19][20][21][29][30][31] , labelled by the names of those predecessor campaigns.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For comparison, we include a set of previous high-performing NIF experiments from refs. 4,19,21 . The abscissa of Fig.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%