Analytical Dependence of the Ignition Dynamics Parameters on the Low-Z Impurity Concentration

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, thermonuclear burning of the deuterium-tritium (D/T) plasma of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target is studied in the presence of low-Z impurities (lithium, beryllium, and carbon) with arbitrary concentrations. The effect of impurities produced due to the mixing of the thermonuclear fuel with the material of the structural elements of the target during its compression on the process of target burning is studied. Also, the effect of impurity concentration on the plasma ignition parameters such as ignition temperature, confinement parameter ρR, and ignition energy are discussed. The models are constructed for an isobaric and an isochoric plasma for the case in which the burning is initiated in the central heated region of the target and then propagated into the surrounding relatively cold fuel. In ICF spherical implosions of the D/T fuel, the ignition parameters as ignition temperature and parameter ρR in the hot spot are approximately 7 - 10 keV and 0.2 - 0.4 g cm-2 respectively, and these values are increased by the presence of impurities.