Laser-driven inertial ion focusing

A Hohlraum-like configuration is proposed for realizing a simple compact source for neutrons. A laser pulse enters a tiny thin-shelled hollow-sphere target through a small opening and is self-consistently trapped in the cavity. The electrons in the inner shell-wall region are expelled by the light pressure. The resulting space-charge field compresses the local ions into a thin layer that becomes strongly heated. An inward expansion of ions into the shell cavity then occurs, resulting in the formation at the cavity center of a hot spot of ions at high density and temperature, similar to that in inertial electrostatic confinement.

National High-Tech ICF Committee of China ; Natural Science Foundation of China [10505031, 10676010, 10474081, 10576035, 10675024, 10775165, 10335020, 10575013, 10576007, 10835003]; National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB815101, 2006CB806004]; Ja