Collisionless shock acceleration in the corona of an inertial confinement fusion pellet with possible application to ion fast ignition

TL;DR

This study uses 2D Particle-In-Cell simulations to demonstrate that intense laser pulses can generate collisionless shocks in fusion pellet coronae, potentially producing ions suitable for fast ignition in inertial confinement fusion.

Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation-based approach showing how laser-driven collisionless shocks can accelerate ions for fusion applications.

Findings

Collisionless shocks can be launched in plasma coronae by intense lasers.

Reflected ions have properties suitable for ion fast ignition.

Simulation results support potential for laser-driven ion acceleration in fusion.

Abstract

Two-dimensional Particle-In-Cell simulations are used to explore collisionless shock acceleration in the corona plasma surrounding the compressed core of an inertial confinement fusion pellet. We show that an intense laser pulse interacting with the long scale-length plasma corona is able to launch a collisionless shock around the critical density. The nonlinear wave travels up-ramp through the plasma reflecting and accelerating the background ions. Our results suggest that protons with characteristics suitable for ion fast ignition may be achieved in this way.