Laser fusion and extreme field physics

Abstract:

The properties of the nonlinear frequency shift (NFS), especially the fluid NFS from the harmonic generation of the ion-acoustic wave (IAW) in multi-ion species plasmas, have been researched by Vlasov simulation. Pictures of the nonlinear frequency shift from harmonic generation and particle trapping are shown to explain the mechanism of NFS qualitatively. The theoretical model of the fluid NFS from harmonic generation in multi-ion species plasmas is given, and the results of Vlasov simulation are consistent with the theoretical result of multi-ion species plasmas. When the wave number kλ_{De} is small, such as kλ_{De}=0.1, the fluid NFS dominates in the total NFS and will reach as large as nearly 15% when the wave amplitude |eϕ/T_{e}|∼0.1, which indicates that in the condition of small kλ_{De}, the fluid NFS dominates in the saturation of stimulated Brillouin scattering, especially when the nonlinear IAW amplitude is large.

Abstract:

Inertial confinement fusion fuel suffers increased X-ray radiation losses when carbon from the capsule ablator mixes into the hot-spot. Here we present one and two-dimensional ion VlasovFokker-Planck simulations that resolve hot-spot self heating in the presence a localised spike of carbon mix, totalling 1.9 % of the hot-spot mass. The mix region cools and contracts over tens of picoseconds, increasing its alpha particle stopping power and radiative losses. This makes a localised mix region more severe than an equal amount of uniformly distributed mix. There is also a purely kinetic effect that reduces fusion reactivity by several percent, since faster ions in the tail of the distribution are absorbed by the mix region. Radiative cooling and contraction of the spike induces fluid motion, causing neutron spectrum broadening. This artificially increases the inferred experimental ion temperatures and gives line of sight variations.