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Burning plasma achieved in inertial fusion

Author

Listed:
  • A. B. Zylstra

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • O. A. Hurricane

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. A. Callahan

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • A. L. Kritcher

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. E. Ralph

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • H. F. Robey

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • J. S. Ross

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • C. V. Young

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • K. L. Baker

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. T. Casey

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • T. Döppner

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. Divol

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. Hohenberger

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. Pape

    (Laboratoire pour l’utilisation des Lasers Intenses chez École Polytechnique)

  • A. Pak

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • P. K. Patel

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • R. Tommasini

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. J. Ali

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • P. A. Amendt

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. J. Atherton

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. Bachmann

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. Bailey

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. R. Benedetti

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. Berzak Hopkins

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • R. Betti

    (University of Rochester)

  • S. D. Bhandarkar

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. Biener

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • R. M. Bionta

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • N. W. Birge

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • E. J. Bond

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. K. Bradley

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • T. Braun

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • T. M. Briggs

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. W. Bruhn

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • P. M. Celliers

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. Chang

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • T. Chapman

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • H. Chen

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • C. Choate

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • A. R. Christopherson

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. S. Clark

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. W. Crippen

    (General Atomics)

  • E. L. Dewald

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • T. R. Dittrich

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. J. Edwards

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • W. A. Farmer

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. E. Field

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. Fittinghoff

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. Frenje

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • J. Gaffney

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. Gatu Johnson

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • S. H. Glenzer

    (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

  • G. P. Grim

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. Haan

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • K. D. Hahn

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • G. N. Hall

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. A. Hammel

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. Harte

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • E. Hartouni

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. E. Heebner

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • V. J. Hernandez

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • H. Herrmann

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • M. C. Herrmann

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. E. Hinkel

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. D. Ho

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. P. Holder

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • W. W. Hsing

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • H. Huang

    (General Atomics)

  • K. D. Humbird

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • N. Izumi

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. C. Jarrott

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. Jeet

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • O. Jones

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • G. D. Kerbel

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. M. Kerr

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. F. Khan

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. Kilkenny

    (General Atomics)

  • Y. Kim

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • H. Geppert Kleinrath

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • V. Geppert Kleinrath

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • C. Kong

    (General Atomics)

  • J. M. Koning

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. J. Kroll

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. K. G. Kruse

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. Kustowski

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • O. L. Landen

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. Langer

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. Larson

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • N. C. Lemos

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. D. Lindl

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • T. Ma

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. J. MacDonald

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. J. MacGowan

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • A. J. Mackinnon

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. A. MacLaren

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • A. G. MacPhee

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. M. Marinak

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. A. Mariscal

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • E. V. Marley

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. Masse

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • K. Meaney

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • N. B. Meezan

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • P. A. Michel

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. Millot

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. L. Milovich

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. D. Moody

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • A. S. Moore

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. W. Morton

    (Atomic Weapons Establishment)

  • T. Murphy

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • K. Newman

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J.-M. G. Nicola

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • A. Nikroo

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • R. Nora

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. V. Patel

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. J. Pelz

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. L. Peterson

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • Y. Ping

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. B. Pollock

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. Ratledge

    (General Atomics)

  • N. G. Rice

    (General Atomics)

  • H. Rinderknecht

    (University of Rochester)

  • M. Rosen

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. S. Rubery

    (Atomic Weapons Establishment)

  • J. D. Salmonson

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • J. Sater

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. Schiaffino

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. J. Schlossberg

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. B. Schneider

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • C. R. Schroeder

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • H. A. Scott

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. M. Sepke

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • K. Sequoia

    (General Atomics)

  • M. W. Sherlock

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. Shin

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • V. A. Smalyuk

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. K. Spears

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • P. T. Springer

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. Stadermann

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • S. Stoupin

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. J. Strozzi

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • L. J. Suter

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • C. A. Thomas

    (University of Rochester)

  • R. P. J. Town

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • E. R. Tubman

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • C. Trosseille

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • P. L. Volegov

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • C. R. Weber

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • K. Widmann

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • C. Wild

    (Diamond Materials)

  • C. H. Wilde

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • B. M. Wonterghem

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • D. T. Woods

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • B. N. Woodworth

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • M. Yamaguchi

    (General Atomics)

  • S. T. Yang

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

  • G. B. Zimmerman

    (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

Abstract

Obtaining a burning plasma is a critical step towards self-sustaining fusion energy1. A burning plasma is one in which the fusion reactions themselves are the primary source of heating in the plasma, which is necessary to sustain and propagate the burn, enabling high energy gain. After decades of fusion research, here we achieve a burning-plasma state in the laboratory. These experiments were conducted at the US National Ignition Facility, a laser facility delivering up to 1.9 megajoules of energy in pulses with peak powers up to 500 terawatts. We use the lasers to generate X-rays in a radiation cavity to indirectly drive a fuel-containing capsule via the X-ray ablation pressure, which results in the implosion process compressing and heating the fuel via mechanical work. The burning-plasma state was created using a strategy to increase the spatial scale of the capsule2,3 through two different implosion concepts4–7. These experiments show fusion self-heating in excess of the mechanical work injected into the implosions, satisfying several burning-plasma metrics3,8. Additionally, we describe a subset of experiments that appear to have crossed the static self-heating boundary, where fusion heating surpasses the energy losses from radiation and conduction. These results provide an opportunity to study α-particle-dominated plasmas and burning-plasma physics in the laboratory.

Suggested Citation

  • A. B. Zylstra & O. A. Hurricane & D. A. Callahan & A. L. Kritcher & J. E. Ralph & H. F. Robey & J. S. Ross & C. V. Young & K. L. Baker & D. T. Casey & T. Döppner & L. Divol & M. Hohenberger & S. Pape , 2022. "Burning plasma achieved in inertial fusion," Nature, Nature, vol. 601(7894), pages 542-548, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:601:y:2022:i:7894:d:10.1038_s41586-021-04281-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04281-w
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Boubacar Kanté, 2024. "BerkSEL: A scale-invariant laser beyond the Schawlow-Townes two-mirror strategy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-3, December.
    2. Bingqing Cheng & Sebastien Hamel & Mandy Bethkenhagen, 2023. "Thermodynamics of diamond formation from hydrocarbon mixtures in planets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. J. E. Ralph & J. S. Ross & A. B. Zylstra & A. L. Kritcher & H. F. Robey & C. V. Young & O. A. Hurricane & A. Pak & D. A. Callahan & K. L. Baker & D. T. Casey & T. Döppner & L. Divol & M. Hohenberger &, 2024. "The impact of low-mode symmetry on inertial fusion energy output in the burning plasma state," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Tobias Dornheim & Maximilian Böhme & Dominik Kraus & Tilo Döppner & Thomas R. Preston & Zhandos A. Moldabekov & Jan Vorberger, 2022. "Accurate temperature diagnostics for matter under extreme conditions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.

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