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An Introduction to Inertial Confinement Fusion Series in Plasma Physics Series Editor: Steve Cowley, Imperial College, UK, and University of Los Angeles, USA Other books in the series: Aspects of Anomalous Transport in Plasmas R Balescu Non-Equilibrium Air Plasmas at Atmospheric Pressure K H Becker, R J Barker and K H Schoenbach (Eds) Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in Geospace: The Theory of ULF Waves and their Interaction with Energetic Particles in the Solar-Terrestrial Environment A D M Walker Plasma Physics via Computer Simulation (paperback edition) C K Birdsall, A B Langdon Plasma Waves, Second Edition D G Swanson Microscopic Dynamics of Plasmas and Chaos Y Elskens and D Escande Plasma and Fluid Turbulence: Theory and Modelling A Yoshizawa, S-I Itoh and K Itoh The Interaction of High-Power Lasers with Plasmas S Eliezer Introduction to Dusty Plasma Physics P K Shukla and A A Mamun The Theory of Photon Acceleration J T Mendonça Laser Aided Diagnostics of Plasmas and Gases K Muraoka and M Maeda Reaction-Diffusion Problems in the Physics of Hot Plasmas H Wilhelmsson and E Lazzaro The Plasma Boundary of Magnetic Fusion Devices P C Strangeby Non-Linear Instabilities in Plasmas and Hydrodynamics S S Moiseev, V N Oraevsky and V G Pungin Collective Modes in Inhomogeneous Plasmas J Weiland Series in Plasma Physics An Introduction to Inertial Confinement Fusion S Pfalzner University of Cologne, Germany New York London IP130_Discl.fm Page 1 Wednesday, December 28, 2005 3:08 PM Published in 2006 by CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-7503-0701-3 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-7503-0701-7 (Hardcover) Library of Congress Card Number 2005046678 This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use. No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC) 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pfalzner, Susanne. An introduction to inertial confinement fusion / Susanne Pfalzner. p. cm. -- (Series in plasma physics) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7503-0701-3 (acid-free paper) 1. Pellet fusion. I. Title. II. Series. QC791.775.P44P43 2006 539.7’64--dc22 2005046678 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com Taylor & Francis Group and the CRC Press Web site at is the Academic Division of Informa plc. http://www.crcpress.com Dedication To my husband, Paul, and my daughters, Theresa and Claire IamoneofthosewhobelievelikeNobelthatmankindwillderivemore good than harm from the new discoveries. Pierre Curie Preface The idea for this book arose from talking to some colleagues about how confusing it was at one’s first inertial confinement fusion (ICF) conference to find all these different subjects presented with cryptic names such as SBS, random phase plates, and mode coupling, but one was not able to gain an overall picture of ICF. It turned out that for each of us, it had beena ratherlengthyandpainfulprocessto createthis picture foroneself. Althoughtheredoexistanumberofverygoodbooksaboutthestateofthe artof ICF, they are mainly aimed at specialists. The purpose of this book is to assist future newcomers to this field by giving a general overview of the processes involved in inertial confinement fusion on a more accessible level. Any worktryingto encapsulatea rapidlyevolvingfieldfaces the issue of timeliness. However, the timescale at which material becomes outdated depends on the type of information conveyed. Although there have been many exciting and important new developments in ICF during the last 10 years, there is a core of “conventional understanding” that has remained substantially intact. In other words, numbers change much more rapidly than the ideas behind them. It is these ideas that form the basis of the present text. A further difficulty that arises with ICF is to present it in a logical order. The plan chosen in this book is to first give an overview of the subject and then follow the ICF process from the driver technology to the burn physics in its chronological order, explaining the physical concepts andobstaclesencounteredonthe way. This is roundedoffwitha lookinto the future, (i.e., possible reactor designs and alternative routes). The book is nominally aimed at physics graduate students. The pros- pective reader is assumed to have a solid background in physics at the undergraduate level. I do not assume a similar training in plasma physics, butprovideashortoverviewoftherelevantplasmaphenomenainChapter 3. Thecompletetextcontainssomewhatmorematerialthancanbecovered inasinglesemesterandisto alargeextentbasedonalecturecoursegiven in the winter semester 2004/2005 entitled “Energy like in the sun? An introduction to inertial confinement fusion”(translationfrom the German) attheUniversityofCologne,Germany. Thiswasaweeklytwo-hourlecture course with 17 lectures in total. Not all the material contained in this book was covered as the majority of students had no previous knowledge ofplasmaphysics,whichmeantthatthematerialofChapter3tookuptwo lectures. Over the years, I have received generous help and advice from many individuals, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge them. I am also indebted to PaulGibbon for his tireless efforts in reading the entire manuscriptand offeringinvaluablecommentaryonboththescientificcontentandtheman- nerofits presentation. I amgratefulto the students ofCologneUniversity fortheircommentsandcorrections. ManythanksaswelltoA.R.Bellwho communicated the initial synopsis to Institute of Physics. I want to thank S. Atzeni, S. Eliezer, J. Jacobs,R. L. McCrory,and S. Nakai for providing me access to figures. Because my own research has recently moved toward astrophysical applications, some inaccuracies might have crept in for which I am, of course, solely responsible. I trust these will be at worst of detail and not of principle. Finally, it is a pleasure to thank John Navas of Institute of Physics Publishing, who gave much friendly and helpful advice in seeing this work through to fruition. Susanne Pfalzner Contents 1 Fundamentals of Inertial Confinement Fusion 1 1.1 What Happens in the Sun? 1 1.2 Can One Produce Energy on Earth Like in the Sun? 4 1.3 The Two Approaches — Magnetic vs. Inertial Confinement 8 1.4 Stages in Inertial Confinement Fusion 17 1.5 Outline of the Book 24 2 Laser Drivers for Inertial Confinement Fusion 25 2.1 Basics of Laser Physics 25 2.2 Lasers for ICF Applications 34 2.3 Nd-glass Lasers for ICF 36 2.4 Alternatives to Nd-glass Lasers 46 3 Basic Plasma Physics 50 3.1 Debye Length and Plasma Frequency 50 3.2 Particle Description 53 3.3 Fluid Description 54 3.4 Plasma Waves 58 3.5 Plasma Heating 60 3.6 The Ponderomotive Force 62 3.7 Shock Waves 62 3.8 Equation of State for Dense Plasmas 68 4 Absorption of Laser Light 73 4.1 Coupling of the Laser Energy to the Target 73 4.2 Inverse Bremsstrahlung Absorption 76 4.3 Resonance Absorption 81 4.4 Parametric Instabilities 84 4.5 Indirect Drive: Coupling Laser Energy to the Hohlraum 89 4.6 Energy Transport 92