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Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear Fusion

The process of converting very light nuclei into heavier nuclei is also accompanied by the conversion of mass into large amounts of energy, a process called fusion. The principal source of energy in the sun is a net fusion reaction in which four hydrogen nuclei fuse and ultimately produce one helium nucleus and two positrons.
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...

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Hohlraum Reheating from Burning NIF Implosions.

M S Rubery¹, M D Rosen¹, N Aybar¹

¹Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551-0808, USA.

Physical Review Letters

|February 23, 2024

Summary

Researchers observed capsule reheating in fusion experiments, exceeding target breakeven. This breakthrough in inertial confinement fusion demonstrates a significant advancement in understanding energy coupling and hohlraum physics.

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Area of Science:

Physics
Nuclear Fusion
Plasma Physics

Background:

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments aim for ignition and energy gain.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) conducts high-power laser-driven ICF experiments.
Understanding energy coupling within the hohlraum is crucial for ICF success.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate capsule reheating effects in ICF experiments.
To confirm the observation of hohlraum reheating beyond laser-driven temperatures.
To analyze the source of this reheating phenomenon.

Main Methods:

Analysis of data from NIF experiment N221204, which achieved target breakeven.
Utilizing two independent Dante calorimeter systems for temperature measurements.
Correlating capsule energy output with hohlraum radiation temperature.

Main Results:

Experiment N221204 achieved 3.15 MJ fusion energy from 2.05 MJ laser drive, exceeding target breakeven.
Capsule-derived energy reheated the hohlraum to 350 eV, surpassing the peak laser-driven temperature of 313 eV.
Reheating was observed in less than half a nanosecond and confirmed across multiple experiments.

Conclusions:

Capsule reheating by the exploding core, heated by alpha deposition, has been unambiguously observed.
This phenomenon results from the interaction of the burning capsule's energy with the hohlraum.
The findings provide critical insights into ICF energy dynamics and hohlraum physics.