Scaling the SQ-n implosion platform to full energy on the National Ignition Facility*

High compression and high areal density are essential to reaching high gain in inertial confinement fusion implosions. However, increasing compression in implosion designs using high density carbon (HDC) ablators at the National Ignition Facility has proven challenging, likely due to increased hydrodynamic instability growth with increased compression. The SQ-n implosion platform was developed to address this limitation by carefully controlling stability through all phases of the implosion. Initial sub-scale experiments using 1.3–1.5 MJ of laser drive energy have been successful in increasing measured compressions by 20–35% compared to other sub-scale designs using HDC ablators. In the coming year, a full- scale version of SQ-n driven by 1.9 MJ of laser energy will be tested to assess the impact of improved compression in the burning plasma regime. This talk will review the state of this design and plans for the coming full-scale campaign.