Machine-assisted scaling and optimization of ICF target designs for an upgraded National Ignition Facility*

A proposed upgrade to the National Ignition Facility (NIF) could increase the energy of the laser to 3.0 MJ (at a peak power of 450 TW) or increase the peak power to 600 TW (at a maximum energy of 2.6 MJ). In pursuit of higher-yield target design options tailored for these different upgrade scenarios, we have developed new machine-assisted design tools that facilitate assessments of the scaling and optimization of both demonstrated and novel target designs for the NIF. Focusing on the higher-power upgrade proposal in this study, we use these tools to explore the performance scaling of the first NIF shot to exceed Lawson's ignition criterion, N210808 [H. Abu-Shawareb et al., PRL 129, 075001 (2022)], which produced 1.37 MJ DT yield. Our results suggest that scaled-up variants of this implosion could increase yields by ~4x at laser energies approaching 2.6 MJ. Further optimization of the implosion via modest changes in the target configuration and dynamics reveals designs approaching 20 MJ DT yield before considering degradations due to mix and asymmetry. Preliminary hohlraum and laser configurations for these higher-performance targets refined with the help of these new design tools will be presented.