Review on the current status and prospects of fast ignition in fusion targets driven by intense, laser generated proton beams

Abstract

The concept of fast ignition (FI) in fusion targets is a technique to significantly reduce the constraints to the driving laser or ion beam systems and to simultaneously enhance the gain of the fusion reaction. FI by intense beams of electrons meanwhile has been investigated over the last two decades. Since the discovery of intense laser-driven proton and ion beams the idea has been introduced using those beams to ignite a pre-compressed fusion target. At the 10th Workshop of Fast Ignition on Fusion Targets the current status and the prospects of proton fast ignition have been reviewed.