A study of ignition and burn propagation in reactor-size inertial fusion targets using a three-temperature plasma simulation model

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Abstract
In a previous paper by Tahir and Long [Phys. Fluids 29, 1282 (1986)] it was shown that radiation energy transport can compensate for the range shortening effects in ion-beam inertial confinement fusion (ICF) plasma. Implosion results of a high-gain, ion-beam driven, reactor-size ICF target including radiation effects were also reported. These implosion simulations were carried out under an assumption of a complete thermodynamic equilibrium between the radiation field and the electrons. This assumption, however, is only applicable in optically thick media and is thus valid in the compression phase of ICF targets only. In the burn phase the radiation field is totally decoupled from the electrons and the above approximation breaks down. A three-temperature model described in another paper by Tahir et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 60, 898 (1986)] is a much better model for such a regime. Using this three-temperature model, the ignition and burn of the target reported in the Tahir–Long paper have been recalculated and these improved results are presented here. The importance of the inverse Compton effect and the α-particle transport in inertial fusion burn plasmas is also discussed.