Fast ignitor concept with light ions

Abstract

A short-laser-pulse driven ion flux is examined as a fast ignitor candidate for inertial confinement fusion. Ion ranges in a hot precompressed fuel are studied. The ion energy and the corresponding intensity of a short laser pulse are estimated for the optimum ion range and ion energy density flux. It is shown that a lightion beam triggered by a few-hundreds-kJ laser at intensities of ≳10 21 W/cm 2 is relevant to the fast ignitor scenario.