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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Synthesis and Microdiffraction at Extreme Pressures and Temperatures
Published on: October 7, 2013
Bound on hot-spot mix in high-velocity, high-adiabat direct-drive cryogenic implosions based on comparison of
1Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
Abstract:
In laser-driven implosions for laboratory fusion, the comparison of hot-spot x-ray yield to neutron production can serve to infer hot-spot mix. For high-performance direct-drive implosions, this ratio depends sensitively on the degree of equilibration between the ion and electron fluids. A scaling for x-ray yield as a function of neutron yield and characteristic ion and electron hot-spot temperatures is developed on the basis of simulations with varying degrees of equilibration. We apply this model to hot-spot x-ray measurements of direct-drive cryogenic implosions typical of the direct-drive designs with best ignition metrics. The comparison of the measured x-ray and neutron yields indicates that hot-spot mix, if present, is below a sensitivity estimated as ∼2% by-atom mix of ablator plastic into the hot spot.
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