IF/P7-25 Studies of Phenomena Related to Fast Ignition of a Fusion Target by Laser-Driven Proton Beams

Generation of high-current proton beams of parameters scalable to those required for fast ignition of a fusion target was studied numerically and experimentally. Using a hydrodynamic relativistic 2D code, it was found that laser-induced skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration (SLPA) makes possible to produce collimated proton beams of MA currents and TA/cm current densities at relativistic laser intensities above 10W/cm. The production of proton beams of such extreme parameters was demonstrated in the experiment performed on the LULI 100TW laser facility, in which a subpicosecond laser pulse of intensity up to 2x10W/cm was used as the proton beam driver. Based on these results, a concept of ICF fast ignition using SLPA-produced proton beams was proposed.