Deuterium-tritium fuel impact ignition in the presence of degenerate plasma

The impact ignition model is proposed based on the collision of a deuterium-tritium (DT) layer accelerated to high velocities in a conical target. Simple mechanism, low cost, high coupling efficiency, and lack of the need for Petawatt laser pulses are the prominent advantages of this model. However, an increase in the productivity of this ignition mechanism is an important issue. In this regard, in this paper, the idea of impact ignition using the plasma degeneracy mechanism has been investigated. For this purpose, first, the ignition energy gain and stopping power of the DT beam in pure and impure fuels, by employing both degenerate and non-degenerate plasmas, have been examined numerically. Then, in order to assess the penetration depth and range of the incident beam, simulations have been carried out using a three-dimensional (3D) Monte Carlo code for two states of degenerate and non-degenerate pre-compressed pure fuel. The results imply that the state of degeneracy causes an increase by about 63% in the energy gain of impact ignition. In addition, the degeneracy condition leads to an approximate enhancement of 60% in the energy deposition of the pure fuel and about 67% for the impure fuel, with a mixed density ratio of 1.5%; therefore, the range and penetration depth decrease significantly in comparison to the non-degenerate one. This can be indicative of the increasing efficiency of impact ignition conditions in the presence of degenerate plasma. The results of the range for the pure fuel have also been confirmed by a 3D Monte Carlo simulation code. (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH)