Status of candidate drivers for a laboratory microfusion facility

Recent progress in inertial confinement fusion has led to planning for a Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF), in which high yield (200-1000 MJ) inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments would be conducted. Such a facility would optimize designs for high-gain inertial fusion capsules; maintain the U.S. nuclear weapons RandD capability; assess nuclear vulnerability effects and hardening issues; assess questions regarding ICF reactors for energy production and other applications; and provide a unique means of studying matter under extreme conditions. This paper describes the status, projections, and development issues of the primary driver candidates for a near-term LMF facility: glass lasers, krypton-fluoride lasers, light ion beams and heavy ion beams. It is not intended to evaluate the relative promise of the various candidate drivers, but rather as one input to a process that will lead to a systematic selection among the driver candidates for an LMF or for other applications