Numerical and theoretical studies on the ignition of ICF plasmas driven by ion beams

Abstract

Deuterium-tritium plasmas inertially confined can undergo fusion ignition if some requirements are met. The final temperature of the plasma at the end of the implosion process has to be large enough to produce the overheating of the plasma by the energy deposition of the fusion products. Fusion reactivity begins to be relevant over 1 keV (10−20 cm3/s) but radiation losses must be taken into account as a cooling mechanism. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations point out that the losses can be minimized if the plasma is optically thick (before the fusion burst) and ignition can be triggered at moderate temperatures. Stagnation-free targets produced by optimized pusherless implosions can reach high-energy gains if some criteria established in this paper are met.