Study of ignition and burn dynamics of inertial fusion target with diamond ablator using MULTI-IFE hydrodynamic code

Abstract

Central ignition is one of the main ideas of inertial confinement fusion in which the target is irradiated symmetrically and uniformly by laser beams. The study of target layer design using hydrodynamic codes is very important in improving target performance and fuel gain. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the optimization of a typical spherical target with a polystyrene ablator by using MULTI-IFE hydrodynamic code. Considering the remarkable physical properties of diamond, it has been used to optimize the ablator layer. This target was irradiated with symmetrical laser beams with 1.7 MJ total pulse energy and peak power of about 600 TW. The results show that the optimal thickness of the diamond is about 18 mm. A diamond ablator increases the absorbed laser energy at the target surface by about 16%. Increasing the absorbed energy leads to an increase of about 4% in the maximum temperature of the ions, and as a result, the fuel burn fraction increases by about 1%. Eventually, fuel gain increases by about 9%.

Keywords

• inertial confinement fusion
• central ignition
• multi-ife hydrodynamic code
• diamond ablator