Abstract
Direct-drive fusion targets are considered at present as an alternative to targets of indirect compression at a laser energy level of about 2 MJ. In this approach, the symmetry of compression and ignition of thermonuclear fuel play the major role. We report on the results of theoretical investigation of compression and burning of spherical direct-drive targets in the conditions of spatial nonuniformity of heating associated with a shift of the target from the beam center of focusing and possible laser radiation energy disbalance in the beams. The investigation involves numerous calculations based on a complex of 1D and 2D codes RAPID, SEND (for determining the target illumination and the dynamics of absorption), DIANA, and NUT (1D and multidimensional hydrodynamics of compression and burning of targets). The target under investigation had the form of a two-layer shell (ablator made of inertial material CH and DT ice) filled with DT gas. We have determined the range of admissible variation of compression and combustion parameters of the target depending on the variation of the spatial nonuniformity of its heating by a multibeam laser system. It has been shown that low-mode (long-wavelength) perturbations deteriorate the characteristics of the central region due to less effective conversion of the kinetic energy of the target shell into the internal energy of the center. Local initiation of burning is also observed in off-center regions of the target in the case of substantial asymmetry of irradiation. In this case, burning is not spread over the entire volume of the DT fuel as a rule, which considerably reduces the thermonuclear yield as compared to that in the case of spherical symmetry and central ignition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
N. G. Basov and O. N. Krokhin, Sov. Phys. JETP 19, 123 (1964).
N. G. Basov, S. Yu. Gus’kov, and L. P. Feoktistov, J. Sov. Laser Res. 13, 396 (1992).
M. Tabak, J. M. Hammer, M. E. Glinsky, et al., Phys. Plasmas 1, 1626 (1994).
S. Yu. Gus’kov, Plasma Phys. Rep. 39, 1 (2013).
J. C. Fernández, B. J. Albright, F. N. Beg, et al., Nucl. Fusion 54, 054006 (2014).
D. S. Clark and M. Tabak, Nucl. Fusion 47, 1147 (2007).
M. Murakami, H. Nagatomo, T. Johzaki, et al., Nucl. Fusion 54, 054007 (2014).
V. A. Shcherbakov, Sov. J. Plasma Phys. 9, 240 (1983).
R. Betti, C. D. Zhou, K. S. Anderson, L. J. Perkins, W. Theobald, and A. A. Solodov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 155001 (2007).
G. H. Miller, E. I. Moses, and C. R. Wuest, Opt. Eng. 43, 2841 (2004).
E. I. Moses, R. N. Boyd, B. A. Remington, C. J. Keane, and R. Al-Ayat, Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009).
O. A. Hurricane, in Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, Seattle, USA, 2015, p. 51.
J. D. Lindl, Phys. Plasmas 2, 3933 (1995).
M. J. Edwards, P. K. Patel, J. D. Lindl, et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 070501 (2013).
O. A. Hurricane, D. A. Callahan, D. T. Casey, et al., Nature 506, 343 (2014).
S. A. Bel’kov, S. V. Bondarenko, G. A. Vergunova, S. G. Garanin, S. Yu. Gus’kov, N. N. Demchenko, I. Ya. Doskoch, P. A. Kuchugov, N. V. Zmitrenko, V. B. Rozanov, R. V. Stepanov, and R. A. Yakhin, J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 121, 686 (2015).
N. N. Demchenko, I. Ya. Doskoch, S. Yu. Gus’kov, P. A. Kuchugov, V. B. Rozanov, R. V. Stepanov, G. A. Vergunova, R. A. Yakhin, and N. V. Zmitrenko, Laser Part. Beams 33, 655 (2015).
N. N. Demchenko, S. Yu. Gus’kov, P. A. Kuchugov, V.B. Rozanov, R. V. Stepanov, G. A. Vergunova, R. A. Yakhin, and N. V. Zmitrenko, in Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, Seattle, USA, 2015, p. 77.
V. B. Rozanov, S. Yu. Gus’kov, G. A. Vergunova, N. N. Demchenko, R. V. Stepanov, I. Ya. Doskoch, R. A. Yakhin, N. V. Zmitrenko, and P. A. Kuchugov, in Proceedings of the 33rd European Conference on Laser Interaction with Matter, 2014, p. 49.
S. Yu. Gus’kov, N. N. Demchenko, N. V. Zhidkov, N. V. Zmitrenko, D. N. Litvin, V. B. Rozanov, R. V. Stepanov, N. A. Suslov, and R. A. Yakhin, J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 111, 466 (2010).
Yu. V. Afanas’ev, E. G. Gamalii, N. N. Demchenko, O. N. Krokhin, and V. B. Rozanov, Sov. Phys. JETP 52, 425 (1980).
Yu. V. Afanas’ev, E. G. Gamalii, N. N. Demchenko, and V. B. Rozanov, Tr. Fiz. Inst. im. P. N. Lebedeva, Ross. Akad. Nauk 134, 32 (1982).
V. B. Rozanov and N. N. Demchenko, Sov. J. Quantum Electron. 15, 1251 (1985).
N. V. Zmitrenko, V. Ya. Karpov, A. P. Fadeev, I. I. Shelaputin, and G. V. Shpatakovskaya, Vopr. At. Nauki Tekh., Ser.: Metod. Program. Chisl. Reshen. Zadach Mat. Fiz. 2, 34 (1983).
V. F. Tishkin, V. V. Nikishin, I. V. Popov, and A. P. Favorskii, Mat. Model. 7 (5), 15 (1995).
I. G. Lebo and V. F. Tishkin, Study of Hydrodynamical Instability in Problems of Laser Thermonuclear Synthesis by Mathematical Simulation Methods (Fizmatlit, Moscow, 2006) [in Russian].
W. J. Hogan, J. Coutant, S. Nakai, V. B. Rozanov, and G. Velarde, Energy from Inertial Fusion (IAEA, Vienna, 1995), p. 457.
K. S. Anderson, P. W. McKenty, A. Shvydky, et al., in Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Savannah, USA, 2015, p. UO4.00013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © S.A. Bel’kov, S.V. Bondarenko, G.A. Vergunova, S.G. Garanin, S.Yu. Gus’kov, N.N. Demchenko, I.Ya. Doskoch, N.V. Zmitrenko, P.A. Kuchugov, V.B. Rozanov, R.V. Stepanov, R.A. Yakhin, 2017, published in Zhurnal Eksperimental’noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 2017, Vol. 151, No. 2, pp. 396–408.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bel’kov, S.A., Bondarenko, S.V., Vergunova, G.A. et al. Effect of spatial nonuniformity of heating on compression and burning of a thermonuclear target under direct multibeam irradiation by a megajoule laser pulse. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 124, 341–351 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776117010113
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776117010113