Progress of laser fusion in the last 40 years and expected prosperous applications

Abstract

Inertial confinement fusion has remarkably developed in the last 40 years. In the 21st century, we can expect fusion energy for civilian use. We had performed two types of fusion experiments: High Temperature Demonstration and High Density Demonstration. The former experiment attained a neutron yield 1013 using the LHART target driven by the GEKKO XII laser. The latter achieved the 1000 times normal density using the random phased laser beams which realized the Edward Teller proposal of IQEC 1972. Now, the FIREX project to explore fast ignition is going on. The heating process of energetic electrons as well as ions is a key issue of the fast ignition. Investigation on the extreme condition of plasma in high density and high temperature which are introduced by the PW laser give us a new field of nuclear science. On the way to the final fusion goal, we can expect various fruits in the field of high power laser applications, such as laser-induced nuclear reaction, EUV light source for lithography, nuclear transmutation, laser astrophysics, medical application of particle beam and so on.