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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
Evelyn M. Fearon, Stephan A. Letts, Leslie M. Allison, Robert C. Cook
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 31 | Number 4 | July 1997 | Pages 406-410
Technical Paper | Eleventh Target Fabrication Specialists' Meeting | doi.org/10.13182/FST97-A30793
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this paper we describe our efforts to produce ICF target capsules with either controlled inner surface roughness or thin metallic diagnostic layers by adapting the decomposable mandrel technique previously developed at LLNL. To modify the capsule's inner surface we laser ablated a pattern on a poly(α-methylstyrene) (PAMS) shell, overcoated it with plasma polymer and then thermally decomposed the inner mandrel to leave the plasma polymer shell with the imprint of the laser ablated mandrel pattern. In this fashion we have been able to produce shells with controlled inner surface bumps. However, these bumps are correlated with outer surface pits. To place a thin metallic diagnostic layer on the inner capsule surface we applied a 50 Å titanium sputter coating to a smooth PAMS shell, overcoated with plasma polymer, and then thermally decomposed the mandrel to leave a plasma polymer shell with the titanium layer on the inner surface. Surface analysis showed that this process resulted in shells with a relatively long wavelength roughness, possibly due to the action of the metallic layer as a permeation barrier.