Shock Wave Behavior in Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions

Abstract

Fuel heating caused by viscous dissipation of shock waves is an important mechanism in inertial-confinement fusion (ICF) implosions. The premature heating (preheating) of the fuel degrades performance, but if a shock wave is thin compared to the initial fuel radius, a small inner volume can be ignited with minimum preheat.

Here, we investigate these effects by modeling the viscosity in a strong plasma shock wave. The viscosity is observed to lower the inner fuel temperature below ideal fluid predictions. Using this shock model, we obtain a relationship between the fuel preheat and shock parameters for efficiently heating the inner fuel core with minimum preheat.