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arXiv · 2412.18455

Amplifier scheme: driven by indirect-drive under 10 MJ laser toward inertial fusion energy

Yongsheng Li·Ke Lan·Hui Cao·Yao-Hua Chen·Xiaohui Zhao·Zhan Sui
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Abstract

Burn efficiency is a key for commercial feasibility of fusion power station for inertial fusion energy, while burn efficiency is usually lower than 30% in the central ignition scheme of inertial confinement fusion (ICF). A recent conceptual design for a 10 MJ laser driver [Z. Sui and K. Lan et al., Matter Radiat. Extremes 9, 043002 (2024)] provides a new room for target design to achieve a higher burn efficiency. Here, we take the advantage of fuel density in reaction rate and propose a novel amplifier scheme for increasing burn efficiency via two cascading explosions by ICF. The amplifier scheme can be realized either by indirect-drive or by direct-drive. Here, we give a 1D design for an indirect-driven amplifier capsule containing 2.02 mg DT fuel under a 300 eV radiation generated by a 10 MJ and 1785 TW laser inside an octahedral spherical hohlraum. As a result, the amplifier capsule has a burn efficiency of 48% and a gain of 33 at a convergence ratio of 24. This novel scheme can achieve a relatively high burn efficiency at a relatively low convergence ratio, which can greatly relax the stringent requirements of high gain fusion on hot spot ignition conditions and engineering issues.

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Yongsheng Li, Ke Lan, Hui Cao, Yao-Hua Chen, Xiaohui Zhao, Zhan Sui. 2024-12-24. Amplifier scheme: driven by indirect-drive under 10 MJ laser toward inertial fusion energy. https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.18455

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