ABSTRACT
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is an approach to fusion that relies on the inertia of the fuel mass to provide confinement. The confined fuel must reach high temperature and density to produce enough reactions D + T → α(3.5 MeV)+n(14.1 MeV), so the total energy released in the reactions is much larger than the driver energy required to compress the fuel. In an ICF implosion, the capsule, a spherical cryogenic deuterium-tritium (DT) shell filled with DT vapor, is irradiated either directly by laser beams (direct-drive approach) or by x-rays emitted by a high-Z enclosure (hohlraum) surrounding the target (indirect drive) (Lindl, 1998). Only a small portion of the fuel is heated to ignition conditions in a typical ignition target. This part of the fuel forms a hot spot that initiates a burn wave which ignites the remaining fuel.
