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Updated: Sep 23, 2026

How to Ignite an Atmospheric Pressure Microwave Plasma Torch without Any Additional Igniters
Published on: April 16, 2015
Demonstration of ignition-driven radiation transport through a THOR hohlraum
R S Lester1, B M Haines1, H M Johns1
1Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Abstract:
The achievement of fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility opens new opportunities for foundational studies in opacity, radiation transport, and high-flux astrophysics in regimes previously unattainable. We have succeeded in the critical enabling step of demonstrating ignition in a hohlraum modified with diagnostic windows that burn through prior to ignition, granting experimental access to the brightest radiation source in the laboratory. This Letter reports the results of a deuterium-tritium-layered capsule implosion that achieved 2.4±0.09 MJ neutron yield in a hohlraum with windows designed to allow the escape of radiation energy from the capsule without significant loss of implosion symmetry, thus establishing a validated platform for next-generation radiation-driven experiments.
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