Driving high-gain shock-ignited inertial confinement fusion targets by green laser light

Abstract

Standard direct-drive inertial confinement fusion requires UV light irradiation in order to achieve ignition at total laser energy of the order of 1 MJ. The shock-ignition approach opens up the possibility of igniting fusion targets using green light by reducing the implosion velocity and laser-driven ablation pressure. An analytical model is derived, allowing to rescale UV-driven targets to green light. Gain in the range 100–200 is obtained for total laser energy in the range 1.5–3 MJ. With respect to the original UV design, the rescaled targets are less sensitive to irradiation asymmetries and hydrodynamic instabilities, while operating in the same laser-plasma interaction regime.