Recent Progress Made in the SBS PCM Approach to Self-navigation of Lasers on Direct Drive IFE Targets

Abstract

Current status of SBS PCM based IFE approach proposed recently as an alternative to the IFE classical approach is presented. This technology is of a particular importance to the direct drive scheme taking care of automatic self-navigation of every individual laser beam on the injected pellets without any need for final optics adjustments. An upgraded scheme was developed with a low energy illumination laser beam (glint) entering the reactor chamber through the same entrance window as used subsequently by the corresponding high energy irradiation laser beam. Experimental verification of this improved design was performed using a complete setup including a pellet-at this stage realized by a static steel ball of 4 mm in diameter. The pellet survival conditions between its low energy illumination and high energy irradiation were studied and the upper limits on the allowed energies absorbed for both DD and DT fuels were determined.