Shock Ignition - A New Route Towards Laser Fusion Energy

Abstract

The technologies required for Laser Fusion Energy are advancing rapidly at present and it is expected that net energy gain from laser ignited fusion will be demonstrated within the next few years. New concepts are already being proposed to increase the gain and reduce the laser energy requirements for future full scale reactor technologies. We present here a report on the status and issues involved with one of these techniques, shock ignition, which uses an additional very powerful laser pulse at the end of the main compression pulse to heat and ignite the compressed fuel.