Correlated ion stopping in dense plasmas

Abstract

Correlated ion stopping arising from an intense cluster ion beam (CIB) interacting with an ultradense plasma target of relevance to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is first investigated in a two-body approximation in an arbitrarily degenerate electron fluid target. The specific advantages of CIB-driven ICF are first demonstrated through 1D simulations, highlighting the very fine focusing of the ion beam on the target pellet. Then, the N-body configurations of ion debris resulting from the impact of heavy cluster ions are determined in terms of their specific topology. The validities of the usual assumptions of equal ion fragment charge and negligible coupling between stopping and Coulomb explosion are assessed.Correlated ion stopping arising from an intense cluster ion beam (CIB) interacting with an ultradense plasma target of relevance to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is first investigated in a two-body approximation in an arbitrarily degenerate electron fluid target. The specific advantages of CIB-driven ICF are first demonstrated through 1D simulations, highlighting the very fine focusing of the ion beam on the target pellet. Then, the N-body configurations of ion debris resulting from the impact of heavy cluster ions are determined in terms of their specific topology. The validities of the usual assumptions of equal ion fragment charge and negligible coupling between stopping and Coulomb explosion are assessed.