Constraining the 3He <b>+</b>3He Gamow energy probed in high energy density plasmas at the National Ignition Facility
Polar-direct-drive implosions at the National Ignition Facility generated large plasma volumes to study the 3He + 3He fusion reaction. The ion temperature, which determines the Gamow peak energy, was constrained by isolating the thermal contribution to the D3He-proton spectral width in a 3He plasma doped with deuterium. X-ray penumbral imaging was used to measure electron temperature, density, and hotspot volume, which was subsequently used to model the spectral broadening from plasma stopping power. Results showed 30% of the D3He-proton spectral width was due to stopping power, with residual flows contributing ≈10%. The 3He temperature was determined as T3He = 12.4 ± 3.2 keV, corresponding to a Gamow energy of 95 ± 14 keV. These experiments achieved the lowest Gamow energy to date for studying 3He + 3He fusion in high energy density plasma, approaching conditions in the Sun.
Authors
- P. J. Adrian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8682-1480)
- S. F. Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0898-9178)
- Maria Gatu Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2383-1275)
- Warren Garbett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6442-1961)
- E. P. Hartouni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9869-4351)
- B. Bachmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7992-0018)
- A. B. Zylstra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0489-7479)
- B. Lahmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4599-8463)
- M. Hohenberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5887-9711)
- Johan A. Frenje (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6846-0378)
- R. S. Craxton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5885-8227)
- D. M. Holunga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1101-2448)
- D. T. Casey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2125-677X)
- Heather D. Whitley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2344-8698)
- J. H. Kunimune (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7076-5891)
- N. V. Kabadi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7315-3636)
- G. D. Sutcliffe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3498-8040)
Institutions
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US)
- AWE Nuclear Security Technologies (GB)
- Energetics (United States) (US)
- Plasma Technology (United States) (US)
- Fusion Academy (US)
- University of Rochester (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physics of Plasmas
- Published
- 2025-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0233437
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.61
Funders
- National Nuclear Security Administration
- Krell Institute
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory