Achievement of Target Gain Larger than Unity in an Inertial Fusion Experiment

On December 5, 2022, an indirect drive fusion implosion on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved a target gain G_{target} of 1.5. This is the first laboratory demonstration of exceeding "scientific breakeven" (or G_{target}>1) where 2.05 MJ of 351 nm laser light produced 3.1 MJ of total fusion yield, a result which significantly exceeds the Lawson criterion for fusion ignition as reported in a previous NIF implosion [H. Abu-Shawareb et al. (Indirect Drive ICF Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 075001 (2022)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.129.075001]. This achievement is the culmination of more than five decades of research and gives proof that laboratory fusion, based on fundamental physics principles, is possible. This Letter reports on the target, laser, design, and experimental advancements that led to this result.

Lawson Criterion for Ignition Exceeded in an Inertial Fusion Experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion.

Multiple beam two-plasmon decay: linear threshold to nonlinear saturation in three dimensions

The linear stability of multiple coherent laser beams with respect to two-plasmon-decay instability in an inhomogeneous plasma in three dimensions has been determined. Cooperation between beams leads to absolute instability of long-wavelength decays, while shorter-wavelength shared waves are shown to saturate convectively. The multibeam, in its absolutely unstable form, has the lowest threshold for most cases considered. Nonlinear calculations using a three-dimensional extended Zakharov model show that Langmuir turbulence created by the absolute instability modifies the convective saturation of the shorter-wavelength modes, which are seen to dominate at late times.

Nonlinear development of stimulated Raman scattering from electrostatic modes excited by self-consistent non-Maxwellian velocity distributions

The parametric coupling involving backward stimulated scattering of a laser and electron beam acoustic modes (BAM) is described as observed in particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The BAM modes evolve from Langmuir waves (LW) as the electron velocity distribution is nonlinearly modified to be non-Maxwellian by backward stimulated Raman scattering (BSRS). With a marginal damping rate, BAM can be easily excited and allow an extended chirping in frequency to occur as later SRS pulses encounter modified distributions. Coincident with the emergence of this non-Maxwellian distribution is a rapid increase in BSRS reflectivities with laser intensities. Both the reflectivity scaling with laser intensity and the observed spectral features from PIC simulations are consistent with recent Trident experiments.

Nonlinear spectral signatures and spatiotemporal behavior of stimulated Raman scattering from single laser speckles

Simulations are reported of the Thomson scatter spectrum of electrostatic waves (ESWs) excited in single laser hot spots by backward stimulated Raman scattering (BSRS). Under conditions similar those in the recent experiments of Kline et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 175003 (2005)], a spectral streak, resulting from the trapping-induced frequency shift of the ESW, is found for high wave-number ESWs, similar to the observations. This shift and parametric frequency matching lead to isolated BSRS pulses. Modes with acoustic dispersion, resulting from the trapping-modified electron velocity distribution, can enhance the frequency range of the streak.

Observation of a transition from fluid to kinetic nonlinearities for langmuir waves driven by stimulated Raman backscatter

Thomson scattering is used to measure Langmuir waves (LW) driven by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in a diffraction limited laser focal spot. For SRS at wave numbers klambda(D) less similar 0.29, where k is the LW number and lambda(D) is the Debye length, multiple waves are detected and are attributed to the Langmuir decay instability (LDI) driven by the primary LW. At klambda(D) greater similar 0.29, a single wave, frequency-broadened spectrum is observed. The transition from the fluid to the kinetic regime is qualitatively consistent with particle-in-cell simulations and crossing of the LDI amplitude threshold above that for LW self-focusing.

Transient enhancement and detuning of laser-driven parametric instabilities by particle trapping

Kinetic simulations of backward stimulated Raman scattering (BSRS), where the Langmuir wave coherence time is greater than the bounce time for trapped electrons, yield transient reflectivity levels far above those predicted by fluidlike models. Electron trapping reduces the Langmuir wave damping and lowers the Langmuir wave frequency, and leads to a secular phase shift between the Langmuir wave and the BSRS beat ponderomotive force. This phase shift detunes and saturates BSRS and a similar effect, due to ion trapping, is the saturation mechanism for backward stimulated Brillouin scattering. Competition with forward SRS is discussed.

3/2omega0 radiation from the laser-driven two-plasmon decay instability in an inhomogeneous plasma

We present the results of the first reduced model simulations of the nonlinear development of the two-plasmon decay instability in an inhomogeneous plasma, including properties of the 3/2 harmonic emission. A sharp increase in radiation and Langmuir turbulence fluctuation levels occurs above a threshold laser intensity that depends on initial fluctuation levels. We study the competition between the linear propagation of Langmuir waves in the density gradient and the nonlinear saturation due to the Langmuir decay instability. The secondary decay Langmuir waves can provide the dominant source of the radiation and are essential to explain experiments.