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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.
A. Nobile, M. M. Balkey, J. J. Bartos, S. H. Batha, R. D. Day, J. E. Elliott, N. E. Elliott, V. M. Gomez, D. J. Hatch, N. E. Lanier, J. R. Fincke, R. Manzanares, T. H. Pierce, D. L. Sandoval, D. W. Schmidt, W. P. Steckle
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 2 | March 2004 | Pages 95-106
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A434
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experimental campaigns are being conducted at the 60 beam OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics to acquire data to validate hydrodynamic models in the high energy-density regime. This paper describes targets that have been developed and constructed for these experimental campaigns. Targets are 860 m inner diameter by 2.2 mm length cylinders with 70 m thick polymer ablator. On the ablator inner surface and located halfway along the axis of the cylinder is a 500 m wide Al marker band. Band thicknesses in the range 8-16 microns are used. CH foam with densities in the range 30-90 mg/cc fills the inside of the cylinder. While these targets have been fabricated for years, several new improvements and features have recently been developed. Improvements include the use of epoxy instead of polystyrene for the ablator, and the use of electrodeposited Al for the marker band. A critical feature of the target is the surface feature that is placed on the marker band. Experiments are aimed at understanding the hydrodynamic behavior of imploding cylinders as a function of this surface feature. Recent development work has focused on production of engineered surface features on the target marker band. Using a fast tool servo on a diamond turning lathe, a wide range of specified surface features have been produced. This paper will address improvements to the cylinder targets as well as current development efforts.