Research Areas

Target Fabrication

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GOALS
 
  • Develop mass-producible high-gain targets at required repetition rates and affordable cost
  • Demonstrate target survivability during injection, and accurate insertion and tracking

OVERVIEW: Targets for inertial fusion energy power plants will require standard, low-cost designs that are mass-produced in quantities as high as a million targets per day per power plant. Today, targets for inertial confinement fusion or high-energy-density proof-of-principle experiments are fabricated to exquisite precision. Extensive research and development is required to develop new fabrication techniques to manufacture low-cost targets that achieve significantly higher yields.

Roadmap for Target Fabrication

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Known Challenges

Quality and Plant Compatibility
  • A fuel system that consistently produces required IFE plant gain
  • Fabrication at required quality for minimal driver energy penalty (including sphericity, surfaces, voids, foam, and support)
  • Material compatibility with cost-effective radiological waste, recycling streams
  • A cost-effective tritium fuel cycle
Injection
  • A cryogenic target that can survive the injection speed and thermal load from environment
  • Trajectory is controlled and meets laser pointing requirements up to 15 Hz
Mass Production and Rep-Rating
  • Scalable to IFE plant needs: about 106 targets per day for less than 50 cents each
  • “Burst mode” demo of about 102 targets per day at IFE plant rate and cost (specific to test facility needs)
Resources