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Ultrahigh acceleration of plasma by picosecond terawatt laser pulses for fast ignition of fusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2012

P. Lalousis ,
I.B. Földes  and
H. Hora
P. Lalousis*
Affiliation:
Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser FORTH, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
I.B. Földes
Affiliation:
KFKI-Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Budapest, Hungary
H. Hora
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
*
Address correspondence and reprint request to: P. Lalousis, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser FORTH, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. E-mail: lalousis@iesl.forth.gr
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Abstract

A fundamental different mechanism dominates laser interaction with picosecond-terawatt pulses in contrast to the thermal-pressure processes with ns pulses. At ps-interaction, the thermal effects are mostly diminished and the nonlinear (ponderomotive) forces convert laser energy instantly with nearly 100% efficiency into the space charge neutral electron cloud, whose motion is determined by the inertia of the attached ion cloud. These facts were realized only by steps in the past and are expressed by the ultrahigh plasma acceleration, which is more than few thousand times higher than observed by any thermokinetic mechanism. The subsequent application for side-on ignition of uncompressed fusion fuel by the ultrahigh accelerated plasma blocks is studied for the first time by using the genuine two-fluid hydrodynamics. Details of the shock-like flame propagation can be evaluated for the transition to ignition conditions at velocities near 2000 km/s for solid deuterium-tritium.

Keywords

Fast ignitionFusion flameLaser driven fusion energyNonlinear (ponderomotive) force accelerationSide-on ignitionUncompressed fusion fuel
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 233 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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