Toward a burning plasma state using diamond ablator inertially confined fusion (ICF) implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF)

The potential of nuclear fusion as an efficient source of energy was identified decades ago. However, harnessing fusion for energy production has proven to be a difficult task. Throughout the world, billions of dollars are invested in experimental facilities and programs with the goal of demonstrating ignition - the point at which the amount of energy produced via fusion reactions is equal to or greater than the energy supplied to initiate the process. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the indirect drive approach for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) is pursued at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). ICF is based on the hot spot ignition concept, where the kinetic energy of an imploding shell is converted, upon stagnation, to internal energy in a central hot spot. We will present the first implosions in a laser driven system that produced more fusion energy than the peak kinetic energy of the imploding shell. Recent experiments on the NIF using High Density Carbon (HDC) ablators have resulted in a fusion energy output of 54 kJ for the first time exceeding the peak kinetic energy of the shell (by a factor >2). This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.