Light-ion inertial confinement fusion research at Naval Research Laboratory

High-brightness proton beams (0.4 MA, 1 MV) have recently been extracted from 20 cm2 axial pinch-reflex diodes (PRDs) mounted on the NRL Gamble II generator. A source power brightness of >=10 TW.cm-2.rad-2 was achieved in these experiments. A new barrel-shaped equatorial PRD that can be coupled to PBFA II has also been operated on Gamble II and has demonstrated 50% proton efficiency with predominantly azimuthally symmetric charged-particle flow. In other experiments the stopping power of deuterons in hot plasmas was measured using a PRD on Gamble II. Results show about 40% increase in stopping power over that in cold targets when the beam was focused to about 0.25 MA.cm-2. Research is also being performed on transporting ion beams in large-diameter channels (>or approx. 2.5 cm) and on a post-transport plasma-filled magnetic focusing section to bring the beam to pellet dimensions. (author)