A new ignition hohlraum design for indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel six-cylinder-port hohlraum design for indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion, achieving high symmetry flux and low backscattering with efficient laser energy use, potentially improving fusion performance.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new six-cylinder-port hohlraum design that enhances flux symmetry and reduces backscattering compared to traditional designs in ICF.

Findings

Achieves 300 eV radiation drive with 2.3 MJ laser energy.

No Ylm (l<=4) asymmetry when laser effects cancel.

Similar plasma conditions to NIF outer cones.

Abstract

In this paper, a six-cylinder-port hohlraum is proposed to provide high symmetry flux on capsule. It is designed to ignite a capsule with 1.2 mm radius in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) . Flux symmetry and laser energy are calculated by using three dimensional view factor method and laser energy balance in hohlraums. Plasma conditions are analyzed based on the two dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. There is no Ylm (l<=4) asymmetry in the six-cylinder-port hohlraum when the influences of laser entrance holes (LEHs) and laser spots cancel each other out with suitable target parameters. A radiation drive with 300 eV and good flux symmetry can be achieved with use of laser energy of 2.3 MJ and 500 TW peak power. According to the simulations, the electron temperature and the electron density on the wall of laser cone are high and low, respectively, which are similar to those of outer cones in the hohlraums on National Ignition Facility (NIF). And the laser intensity is also as low as those of NIF outer cones. So the backscattering due to laser plasma interaction (LPI) is considered to be negligible. The six-cyliner-port hohlraum could be superior to the traditional cylindrical hohlraum and the octahedral hohlraum in both higher symmetry and lower backscattering without supplementary technology at acceptable laser energy. It is undoubted that the hohlraum will add to the diversity of ICF approaches.