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Fast ignition driven by quasi-monoenergetic ions: Optimal ion type and reduction of ignition energies with an ion beam array

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2014

J.J. Honrubia ,
J.C. Fernández ,
B.M. Hegelich ,
M. Murakami  and
C.D. Enriquez
J.J. Honrubia*
Affiliation:
ETSI Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
J.C. Fernández
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
B.M. Hegelich
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
M. Murakami
Affiliation:
Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
C.D. Enriquez
Affiliation:
ETSI Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: J.J. Honrubia, ETSI Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. E-mail: Javier.honrubia@upm.es
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Abstract

Fast ignition of inertial fusion targets driven by quasi-monoenergetic ion beams is investigated by means of numerical simulations. Light and intermediate ions such as lithium, carbon, aluminum and vanadium have been considered. Simulations show that the minimum ignition energies of an ideal configuration of compressed Deuterium-Tritium are almost independent on the ion atomic number. However, they are obtained for increasing ion energies, which scale, approximately, as Z2, where Z is the ion atomic number. Assuming that the ion beam can be focused into 10 µm spots, a new irradiation scheme is proposed to reduce the ignition energies. The combination of intermediate Z ions, such as 5.5 GeV vanadium, and the new irradiation scheme allows a reduction of the number of ions required for ignition by, roughly, three orders of magnitude when compared with the standard proton fast ignition scheme.

Keywords

Inertial Fusion EnergyIon fast ignitionLaser-driven ion beams
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , September 2014 , pp. 419 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

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