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e-Article

Measurements of dense fuel hydrodynamics in the NIF burning plasma experiments using backscattered neutron spectroscopy.
Document Type
Article
Source
Physics of Plasmas. Apr2024, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p1-8. 8p.
Subject
*INERTIAL confinement fusion
*NEUTRON spectroscopy
*HYDRODYNAMICS
*BURNING velocity
*NEUTRON temperature
*ION temperature
Language
ISSN
1070-664X
Abstract
The hydrodynamics of the dense confining fuel shell is of great importance in defining the behavior of the burning plasma and burn propagation regimes of inertial confinement fusion experiments. However, it is difficult to probe due to its low emissivity in comparison with the central fusion core. In this work, we utilize the backscattered neutron spectroscopy technique to directly measure the hydrodynamic conditions of the dense fuel during fusion burn. Experimental data are fit to obtain dense fuel velocities and apparent ion temperatures. Trends of these inferred parameters with yield and velocity of the burning plasma are used to investigate their dependence on alpha heating and low mode drive asymmetry. It is shown that the dense fuel layer has an increased outward radial velocity as yield increases, showing that burn has continued into re-expansion, a key signature of hotspot ignition. A comparison with analytic and simulation models shows that the observed dense fuel parameters are displaying signatures of burn propagation into the dense fuel layer, including a rapid increase in dense fuel apparent ion temperature with neutron yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]