Study of Fuel-Pusher Mixing in Laser-Driven Implosions, Using Secondary Nuclear Fusion Reactions

Abstract
Ablative implosions of glass microballoon targets driven by twelve 0.53-μm laser beams have been studied by use of secondary DT and D He3 fusion reactions in an initially pure deuterium fuel. The tritons and He3 nuclei are products of primary DD fusion reactions. Comparisons with results of a hydrodynamic simulation indicate that collisional energy loss for these primary fusion products is strongly enhanced by fuel-pusher mixing taking place during the implosion.