2022/08/08 by A. L. Kritcher, A. B. Zylstra, D. A. Callahan +76 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Materials Science · #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Cold Fusion and Nuclear Reactions #Fusion materials and technologies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.106.025201
openalex publication_date 2022/08/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We present the design of the first igniting fusion plasma in the laboratory by Lawson's criterion that produced 1.37 MJ of fusion energy, Hybrid-E experiment N210808 (August 8, 2021) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 075001 (2022)10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.075001]. This design uses the indirect drive inertial confinement fusion approach to heat and compress a central "hot spot" of deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel using a surrounding dense DT fuel piston. Ignition occurs when the heating from absorption of α particles created in the fusion process overcomes the loss mechanisms in the system for a duration of time. This letter describes key design changes which enabled a ∼3-6× increase in an ignition figure of merit (generalized Lawson criterion) [Phys. Plasmas 28, 022704 (2021)1070-664X10.1063/5.0035583, Phys. Plasmas 25, 122704 (2018)1070-664X10.1063/1.5049595]) and an eightfold increase in fusion energy output compared to predecessor experiments. We present simulations of the hot-spot conditions for experiment N210808 that show fundamentally different behavior compared to predecessor experiments and simulated metrics that are consistent with N210808 reaching for the first time in the laboratory "ignition."