Burning plasma achieved in inertial fusion.

Obtaining a burning plasma is a critical step towards self-sustaining fusion energy1. A burning plasma is one in which the fusion reactions themselves are the primary source of heating in the plasma, which is necessary to sustain and propagate the burn, enabling high energy gain. After decades of fusion research, here we achieve a burning-plasma state in the laboratory. These experiments were conducted at the US National Ignition Facility, a laser facility delivering up to 1.9 megajoules of energy in pulses with peak powers up to 500 terawatts. We use the lasers to generate X-rays in a radiation cavity to indirectly drive a fuel-containing capsule via the X-ray ablation pressure, which results in the implosion process compressing and heating the fuel via mechanical work. The burning-plasma state was created using a strategy to increase the spatial scale of the capsule2,3 through two different implosion concepts4-7. These experiments show fusion self-heating in excess of the mechanical work injected into the implosions, satisfying several burning-plasma metrics3,8. Additionally, we describe a subset of experiments that appear to have crossed the static self-heating boundary, where fusion heating surpasses the energy losses from radiation and conduction. These results provide an opportunity to study α-particle-dominated plasmas and burning-plasma physics in the laboratory.

Dynamics and Power Balance of Near Unity Target Gain Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions.

The change in the power balance, temporal dynamics, emission weighted size, temperature, mass, and areal density of inertially confined fusion plasmas have been quantified for experiments that reach target gains up to 0.72. It is observed that as the target gain rises, increased rates of self-heating initially overcome expansion power losses. This leads to reacting plasmas that reach peak fusion production at later times with increased size, temperature, mass and with lower emission weighted areal densities. Analytic models are consistent with the observations and inferences for how these quantities evolve as the rate of fusion self-heating, fusion yield, and target gain increase. At peak fusion production, it is found that as temperatures and target gains rise, the expansion power loss increases to a near constant ratio of the fusion self-heating power. This is consistent with models that indicate that the expansion losses dominate the dynamics in this regime.

First Precision Measurement of the Parity Violating Asymmetry in Cold Neutron Capture on

We report the first precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in the direction of proton momentum with respect to the neutron spin, in the reaction ^{3}He(n,p)^{3}H, using the capture of polarized cold neutrons in an unpolarized active ^{3}He target. The asymmetry is a result of the weak interaction between nucleons, which remains one of the least well-understood aspects of electroweak theory. The measurement provides an important benchmark for modern effective field theory and potential model calculations. Measurements like this are necessary to determine the spin-isospin structure of the hadronic weak interaction. Our asymmetry result is A_{PV}=[1.55±0.97(stat)±0.24(sys)]×10^{-8}, which has the smallest uncertainty of any hadronic parity-violating asymmetry measurement so far.

First Observation of P-odd γ Asymmetry in Polarized Neutron Capture on Hydrogen.

We report the first observation of the parity-violating gamma-ray asymmetry A_{γ}^{np} in neutron-proton capture using polarized cold neutrons incident on a liquid parahydrogen target at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A_{γ}^{np} isolates the ΔI=1, ^{3}S_{1}→^{3}P_{1} component of the weak nucleon-nucleon interaction, which is dominated by pion exchange and can be directly related to a single coupling constant in either the DDH meson exchange model or pionless effective field theory. We measured A_{γ}^{np}=[-3.0±1.4(stat)±0.2(syst)]×10^{-8}, which implies a DDH weak πNN coupling of h_{π}^{1}=[2.6±1.2(stat)±0.2(syst)]×10^{-7} and a pionless EFT constant of C^{^{3}S_{1}→^{3}P_{1}}/C_{0}=[-7.4±3.5(stat)±0.5(syst)]×10^{-11} MeV^{-1}. We describe the experiment, data analysis, systematic uncertainties, and implications of the result.

Observations and properties of the first laboratory fusion experiment to exceed a target gain of unity.

An indirect-drive inertial fusion experiment on the National Ignition Facility was driven using 2.05 MJ of laser light at a wavelength of 351 nm and produced 3.1±0.16 MJ of total fusion yield, producing a target gain G=1.5±0.1 exceeding unity for the first time in a laboratory experiment [Phys. Rev. E 109, 025204 (2024)10.1103/PhysRevE.109.025204]. Herein we describe the experimental evidence for the increased drive on the capsule using additional laser energy and control over known degradation mechanisms, which are critical to achieving high performance. Improved fuel compression relative to previous megajoule-yield experiments is observed. Novel signatures of the ignition and burn propagation to high yield can now be studied in the laboratory for the first time.

The impact of low-mode symmetry on inertial fusion energy output in the burning plasma state.

Indirect Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have achieved a burning plasma state with neutron yields exceeding 170 kJ, roughly 3 times the prior record and a necessary stage for igniting plasmas. The results are achieved despite multiple sources of degradations that lead to high variability in performance. Results shown here, for the first time, include an empirical correction factor for mode-2 asymmetry in the burning plasma regime in addition to previously determined corrections for radiative mix and mode-1. Analysis shows that including these three corrections alone accounts for the measured fusion performance variability in the two highest performing experimental campaigns on the NIF to within error. Here we quantify the performance sensitivity to mode-2 symmetry in the burning plasma regime and apply the results, in the form of an empirical correction to a 1D performance model. Furthermore, we find the sensitivity to mode-2 determined through a series of integrated 2D radiation hydrodynamic simulations to be consistent with the experimentally determined sensitivity only when including alpha-heating.

Landscape of two-proton radioactivity.

Ground-state two-proton (2p) radioactivity is a decay mode found in isotopes of elements with even atomic numbers located beyond the two-proton drip line. So far, this exotic process has been experimentally observed in a few light- and medium-mass nuclides with Z≤30. In this study, using state-of-the-art nuclear density functional theory, we globally analyze 2p radioactivity and for the first time identify 2p-decay candidates in elements heavier than strontium. We predict a few cases where the competition between 2p emission and α decay may be observed. In nuclei above lead, the α-decay mode is found to be dominating and no measurable candidates for the 2p radioactivity are expected.

Neutron imaging of inertial confinement fusion implosions.

We review experimental neutron imaging of inertial confinement fusion sources, including the neutron imaging systems that have been used in our measurements at the National Ignition Facility. These systems allow measurements with 10 µm resolution for fusion deuterium-deuterium and deuterium-tritium neutron sources with mean radius up to 400 µm, including measurements of neutrons scattered to lower energy in the remaining cold fuel. These measurements are critical for understanding the fusion burn volume and the three-dimensional effects that can reduce the neutron yields.

Modeling of a spatially resolved ion temperature diagnostic for inertial confinement fusion.

The performance of modern laser-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments is degraded by contamination of the deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel with high-Z material during compression. Simulations suggest that this mix can be described by the ion temperature distribution of the implosion, given that such contaminants deviate in temperature from the surrounding DT plasma. However, existing neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) diagnostics only measure the spatially integrated ion temperature. This paper describes the techniques and forward modeling used to develop a novel diagnostic imaging system to measure the spatially resolved ion temperature of an ICF implosion for the first time. The technique combines methods in neutron imaging and nTOF diagnostics to measure the ion temperature along one spatial dimension at yields currently achievable on the OMEGA laser. A detailed forward model of the source and imaging system was developed to guide instrument design. The model leverages neutron imaging reconstruction algorithms, radiation hydrodynamics and Monte Carlo simulations, optical ray tracing, and more. The results of the forward model agree with the data collected on OMEGA using the completed diagnostic. The analysis of the experimental data is still ongoing and will be discussed in a separate publication.

Instrument design for an inertial confinement fusion ion temperature imager.

A mix of contaminant mass is a known, performance-limiting factor for laser-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF). It has also recently been shown that the contaminant mass is not necessarily in thermal equilibrium with the deuterium-tritium plasma [B. M. Haines et al., Nat. Commun. 11, 544 (2020)]. Contaminant mass temperature is one of the dominant uncertainties in contaminant mass estimates. The MixIT diagnostic is a new and potentially transformative diagnostic, capable of spatially resolving ion temperature. The approach combines principles of neutron time-of-flight and neutron imaging diagnostics. The information from the MixIT diagnostic can be used to optimize ICF target and laser drive designs as well as provide key constraints on ICF radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that are critical to contaminant mass estimates. This work details the design and optimization of the major components of the MixIT diagnostic: the neutron aperture, the neutron detector (scintillator), and the recording system.

Experimental achievement and signatures of ignition at the National Ignition Facility.

An inertial fusion implosion on the National Ignition Facility, conducted on August 8, 2021 (N210808), recently produced more than a megajoule of fusion yield and passed Lawson's criterion for ignition [Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 075001 (2022)10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.075001]. We describe the experimental improvements that enabled N210808 and present the first experimental measurements from an igniting plasma in the laboratory. Ignition metrics like the product of hot-spot energy and pressure squared, in the absence of self-heating, increased by ∼35%, leading to record values and an enhancement from previous experiments in the hot-spot energy (∼3×), pressure (∼2×), and mass (∼2×). These results are consistent with self-heating dominating other power balance terms. The burn rate increases by an order of magnitude after peak compression, and the hot-spot conditions show clear evidence for burn propagation into the dense fuel surrounding the hot spot. These novel dynamics and thermodynamic properties have never been observed on prior inertial fusion experiments.

Design of an inertial fusion experiment exceeding the Lawson criterion for ignition.

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."

Electrodynamic dip in the local density of states of a metallic wire.

We have measured the differential conductance of a tunnel junction between a thin metallic wire and a thick ground plane, as a function of the applied voltage. We find that near zero voltage, the differential conductance exhibits a dip, which scales as 1/square root of [V] down to voltages V approximately 10k(B)T/e. The precise voltage and temperature dependence of the differential conductance is accounted for by the effect on the tunneling density of states of the macroscopic electrodynamics contribution to electron-electron interaction, and not by the short-ranged screened-Coulomb repulsion at microscopic scales.