ICF target with dynamic shell formation: design of a proof-of-principle experiment

Conventional targets for direct-drive laser fusion consist of a spherical shell with a thin inner layer of frozen deuterium-tritium fuel. Such targets can be effectively imploded at the velocities required for thermonuclear ignition by the ablation pressure generated by collisional absorption of laser light. A new concept [1] makes use of simpler homogeneous spheres. In this case, the shell is formed dynamically through an appropriate laser pulse: a first imploding shock wave is generated by the laser, which after bouncing from the center turns into a blast wave and subsequent interaction of this blast wave with imploding waves driven by other short laser pulses eventually generate the shell. At this point the shell is ready to be imploded with direct-drive or shock ignition approach . A reduced-scale proof- of-principle experiment on dynamic shell formation is now under design at Laboratory for Laser energetics LLE (Rochester,USA) in collaboration with GAPS group of SBAI department at Sapienza.