부산대학교 도서관

The indirect-drive targets being considered for inertial fusion require the driver to deposit 5 MJ on a target in less than 10 ns. This requirement can in principle be met by on beams with particle masses between 120 and 240 amu, an ion kinetic energy in the range of 6--12 GeV, and a total current in excess of 30 kA. Three strategies for generating beams with these parameters are currently being studied. European laboratories are investigating the use of low-current beams from a radio-frequency accelerator. To obtain the needed current density, these beams would be stacked and accumulated in storage rings and then directed simultaneously at the target. American researchers are developing high-current induction accelerators, and the two principal configurations under consideration are the linear driver and the ``recirculator,`` in which ion pulses pass repeatedly through the same accelerator elements. The merits of the three approaches are compared, and key physics uncertainties in each are identified.