46th International Workshop on High Energy Density Physics with Intense Ion and Laser Beams

Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) is one of the critical technical approaches to achieving controlled fusion energy. The successful achievement of ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has further confirmed the technical feasibility of ICF. However, although the ignition has been achieved, research into higher gains and lower driving conditions remains an important next step. Laser...

In the interaction of ns laser pulses with plasma, a large amount of highly energetic electrons stems from laser plasma instabilities (LPIs). These describe the scattering of a large percentage of laser photons on ion acoustic or electron plasma waves, with unbound electrons being accelerated in the resulting fields of the latter.
By adjusting the incident laser light, LPIs can be modulated...

Research activities on heavy-ion fusion (HIF) were abandoned over a decade ago, and brought down to a crawl even earlier. It is easy to forget that in the 90's HIF was considered to be the top contender for developing inertial fusion energy (IFE). This is not surprising: accelerator technology is well-established, and the conversion efficiency from a wall plug to accelerated particles is hard...

In the pursuit of the realization of an Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) reactor, directly driving the fuel capsules with laser beams is a compelling design choice due to the more efficient energy coupling compared to indirect drive. However, the laser illumination symmetry necessary for achieving ignition and gain imposes stringent accuracy requirements on the laser system.
We present a reactor...