W. L. Kruer

Ignition and high gain with ultrapowerful lasers

Ultrahigh intensity lasers can potentially be used in conjunction with conventional fusion lasers to ignite inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsules with a total energy of a few tens of kilojoules of laser light, and can possibly lead to high gain with as little as 100 kJ. A scheme is proposed with three phases. First, a capsule is imploded as in the conventional approach to inertial fusion to assemble a high‐density fuel configuration. Second, a hole is bored through the capsule corona composed of ablated material, as the critical density is pushed close to the high‐density core of the capsule by the ponderomotive force associated with high‐intensity laser light. Finally, the fuel is ignited by suprathermal electrons, produced in the high‐intensity laser–plasma interactions, which then propagate from critical density to this high‐density core. This new scheme also drastically reduces the difficulty of the implosion, and thereby allows lower quality fabrication and less stringent beam quality and symmet...

Hot electron production and heating by hot electrons in fast ignitor research

In an experimental study of the physics of fast ignition the characteristics of the hot electron source at laser intensities up to 10(to the 20th power) Wcm{sup -2} and the heating produced at depth by hot electrons have been measured. Efficient generation of hot electrons but less than the anticipated heating have been observed.

J×B heating by very intense laser light

Plasma heating by the oscillating component of the pondermotive force of a very intense light wave is discussed.

Two‐dimensional relativistic simulations of resonance absorption

Resonant absorption has been simulated for radiation of energy density E20/4πnT ranging from much less than to somewhat greater than unity. Characteristic features of the absorption process are an absorption efficiency of approximately 50%, generation of suprathermal particles, and strong modification of the density profile in the vicinity of the critical density. The latter effect, the appearance of a finite density variation over the distance of a few Debye lengths, is forced by strong gradients in the plasma wave intensity and electron temperature. Such a density discontinuity greatly enhances the range of incidence angles for which resonance absorption is effective and decreases the effects of the oscillating two‐stream and ion‐acoustic decay instabilities.

Absorption of ultrashort, ultra-intense laser light by solids and overdense plasmas

Absorption mechanisms for ultra-intense (I>10/sup 17/ W/cm/sup 2/) laser pulses incident on solids and overdense plasma slabs are discussed. We focus on the ultrashort pulse regime, i.e., where the laser pulse length is only a few to perhaps thousands of femtoseconds. Starting from well-known results at low intensity and long pulse length, we begin with absorption mechanisms such as inverse Bremstrahlung and classical resonance absorption and survey several additional absorption mechanisms significant for ultrashort, ultra-intense laser light interacting with overdense plasmas. Estimates for the fraction of laser energy absorbed by various mechanisms are given. It is found that the fraction of energy absorbed by the plasma, and the resulting electron temperatures, can depend considerably on the scale length of the plasma at the critical surface. It is also found that two-dimensional (2-D) effects greatly increase the amount of absorption into hot electrons, over the amount predicted using one-dimensional (1-D) theory. The inclusion of kinetic effects, collisionless absorption, and multidimensional effects are crucial to obtaining a complete picture of the interaction. We also review some of the experimental efforts to understand this complex process of absorption.

Symmetry tuning via controlled crossed-beam energy transfer on the National Ignition Facilitya)

The Hohlraum energetics experimental campaign started in the summer of 2009 on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [E. I. Moses et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)]. These experiments showed good coupling of the laser energy into the targets [N. Meezan et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056304 (2010)]. They have also demonstrated controlled crossed-beam energy transfer between laser beams as an efficient and robust tool to tune the implosion symmetry of ignition capsules, as predicted by earlier calculations [P. Michel et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 025004 (2009)]. A new linear model calculating crossed-beam energy transfer between cones of beams on the NIF has been developed. The model has been applied to the subscale Hohlraum targets shot during the National Ignition Campaign in 2009. A good agreement can be found between the calculations and the experiments when the impaired propagation of the laser beams due to backscatter is accounted for.

The interaction of 1.06 μm laser radiation with high Z disk targets

Gold disks have been irradiated with 1.06 μm laser light at intensities between 7 × 1013 and 3 × 1015 W/cm2, and pulse lengths between 200 and 1000 psec. Due to the high Z and long pulse, inverse bremsstrahlung becomes an important absorption mechanism and competes strongly with resonance absorption and stimulated scattering. In addition to measured absorptions, data on the temporal, spatial, angular, and spectral characteristics of the x‐ray emission are presented. Temporally and spectrally resolved back‐reflected light, and polarization‐dependent sidescattered light are detected, providing estimates for the amount of stimulated scattering and of the coronal electron temperature. Inhibited electron thermal conduction and nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium ionization physics play key roles in bringing numerical simulations of these experiments into agreement with all of the above‐mentioned data.

Theory and simulation of one‐dimensional Raman backward and forward scattering

Computer simulations and theory are used to illustrate the linear and nonlinear behavior or Raman backward and forward scattering in laser‐irradiated plasmas. The heated‐electron distributions, nonlinear Landau damping, bandwidth of the scattered light, and other results of nonlinear simulations in homogeneous and nonhomogeneous plasmas are described. The characteristics of Raman scattering in a plasma with a quite high background temperature (64 keV) are examined, which are relevant to CO2‐heated plasmas. Finally the effects of self‐generated magnetic fields are pointed out, which can reduce Raman scattering by inhibiting the transport of hot electrons, and the reduction of Raman scattering by use of laser light with a large bandwidth is described.

Laser–plasma interactions in ignition‐scale hohlraum plasmas

Scattering of laser light by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is a concern for indirect drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The hohlraum designs for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) raise particular concerns due to the large scale and homogeneity of the plasmas within them. Experiments at Nova have studied laser–plasma interactions within large scale length plasmas that mimic many of the characteristics of the NIF hohlraum plasmas. Filamentation and scattering of laser light by SBS and SRS have been investigated as a function of beam smoothing and plasma conditions. Narrowly collimated SRS backscatter has been observed from low density, low‐Z, plasmas, which are representative of the plasma filling most of the NIF hohlraum. SBS backscatter is found to occur in the high‐Z plasma of gold ablated from the wall. Both SBS and SRS are observed to be at acceptable levels in experiments using smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD).

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion: A review

The direct-drive, laser-based approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is reviewed from its inception following the demonstration of the first laser to its implementation on the present generation of high-power lasers. The review focuses on the evolution of scientific understanding gained from target-physics experiments in many areas, identifying problems that were demonstrated and the solutions implemented. The review starts with the basic understanding of laser–plasma interactions that was obtained before the declassification of laser-induced compression in the early 1970s and continues with the compression experiments using infrared lasers in the late 1970s that produced thermonuclear neutrons. The problem of suprathermal electrons and the target preheat that they caused, associated with the infrared laser wavelength, led to lasers being built after 1980 to operate at shorter wavelengths, especially 0.35 μm—the third harmonic of the Nd:glass laser—and 0.248 μm (the KrF gas laser). The main physics areas relevant to direct drive are reviewed. The primary absorption mechanism at short wavelengths is classical inverse bremsstrahlung. Nonuniformities imprinted on the target by laser irradiation have been addressed by the development of a number of beam-smoothing techniques and imprint-mitigation strategies. The effects of hydrodynamic instabilities are mitigated by a combination of imprint reduction and target designs that minimize the instability growth rates. Several coronal plasma physics processes are reviewed. The two-plasmon–decay instability, stimulated Brillouin scattering (together with cross-beam energy transfer), and (possibly) stimulated Raman scattering are identified as potential concerns, placing constraints on the laser intensities used in target designs, while other processes (self-focusing and filamentation, the parametric decay instability, and magnetic fields), once considered important, are now of lesser concern for mainline direct-drive target concepts. Filamentation is largely suppressed by beam smoothing. Thermal transport modeling, important to the interpretation of experiments and to target design, has been found to be nonlocal in nature. Advances in shock timing and equation-of-state measurements relevant to direct-drive ICF are reported. Room-temperature implosions have provided an increased understanding of the importance of stability and uniformity. The evolution of cryogenic implosion capabilities, leading to an extensive series carried out on the 60-beam OMEGA laser [Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], is reviewed together with major advances in cryogenic target formation. A polar-drive concept has been developed that will enable direct-drive–ignition experiments to be performed on the National Ignition Facility [Haynam et al., Appl. Opt. 46(16), 3276 (2007)]. The advantages offered by the alternative approaches of fast ignition and shock ignition and the issues associated with these concepts are described. The lessons learned from target-physics and implosion experiments are taken into account in ignition and high-gain target designs for laser wavelengths of 1/3 μm and 1/4 μm. Substantial advances in direct-drive inertial fusion reactor concepts are reviewed. Overall, the progress in scientific understanding over the past five decades has been enormous, to the point that inertial fusion energy using direct drive shows significant promise as a future environmentally attractive energy source.