Inertial fusion science in Europe

Abstract

Europe has built significant laser facilities to study ICF since the beginning of this science. The goal is to understand the processes of ignition and propagation of thermonuclear combustion. Three routes toward fusion are pursued, each of which has advantages and difficulties. The conventional routes are using a central hot spot created by the same compression and heating laser beams, either with indirect or direct drive. A more recent route, fast ignition, has been actively studied since the 90's, increasing the need for PW high energy lasers to create the hot spot; some European lasers of this kind are already functioning, others are under construction or planned. Among European facilities, Laser Mega Joule (LMJ), which is under construction, will be the most powerful tool at the end of the decade, along with NIF in the USA, to study and obtain fusion. On all these facilities, numerous results are and will be obtained in the fields of High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) and Ultra High Intensity (UHI).