Bulletin of the American Physical Society
64th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics
Volume 67, Number 15
Monday–Friday, October 17–21, 2022; Spokane, Washington
Session FR01: Review: Inertial Confinement Fusion
8:00 AM–9:00 AM,
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Room: Ballroom 100 AB
Chair: Dustin Froula, University of Rochester
Abstract: FR01.00001 : Dynamics and variability in near unity gain inertial confinement fusion implosions on the National Ignition Facility*
8:00 AM–9:00 AM
Presenter:
Laurent Divol
(Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab)
Author:
Laurent Divol
(Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab)
A series of four experiments with input conditions as close to N210808 as possible were fielded to assess the platform robustness. These experiments achieved fusion yields between 250 kJ and 700 kJ. This talk will describe these results and our current understanding of the variability and degradation mechanisms.
Two main sources of degradations have been identified that can explain the observed variability:
- Low-mode hot-spot asymmetry predominantly explained by residual laser power imbalance and capsule asphericity. The resulting shell asymmetry lowers stagnation pressure and confinement [2].
- Mix induced by fill tube and ablator imperfections. Visible ablator jets and meteors in the DT fuel increase radiative cooling [3].
Absolutely calibrated (imaging, time-resolved, spectrally resolved) x-ray and neutron diagnostics are fielded on the NIF along multiple line of sights for each experiment. This allows for a three-dimensional reconstruction on the DT fuel and mix mass around peak burn. Nuclear yield variations are then well reproduced by numerical modeling including these measured imperfections. These detailed measurements over a wide range of performance give new insights into the dynamic of burning expanding plasmas driven by strong alpha heating.
These experiments, all measured to be above the simplest static threshold for ignition [4], provide a framework to assess optimizations toward a higher performing, more robust design.
*This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE by LLNL under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344
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