Observation of Burn and Pusher Regions of Laser-Driven Large-High-Aspect-Ratio Target by α-Particle Imaging

Abstract
The deuterium-tritium (D-T) thermonuclear reaction region of a laser-driven large-high-aspect-ratio target, which contains D-T mixture gas, has been diagnosed with an α-particle imaging technique using a pinhole camera. The residual pusher region at the maximum compression has also been observed as an image of scattered α-particles. Comparison between the α-particle image and a two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation shows that laser energy balance significantly influences the implosion uniformity.