3D visualization of heavy ion beam energy deposition in two different target shapes

Abstract

Heavy ion beams have favorable energy deposition behavior because they can penetrate and deposit their energy well inside the target. Ion beams have potential uses in fields including heavy ion beam fusion, high-energy density physics and material processing. Intense heavy ion beams can generate high-energy density matter in the laboratory under extreme density and pressure conditions. Additionally, in heavy ion fusion, a stringent requirement for successful fuel ignition and sufficient fusion energy release is that the ion energy deposition profiles are calculated precisely in the energy absorber layer. In this work, the OK2 code was used to simulate the heavy ion beam energy deposition in various target materials, and a computer program was written to provide 3D visualization of the results. The heavy ion beams used in this work were composed of lead, uranium, and cesium ions with energies of 8 GeV and carbon ions with energies of 5 MeV. The targets included two shapes: a monolayer sphere that can be used in direct-driven fusion and a cylindrical shape that is common in indirectly driven heavy ion fusion.