THE USE OF SPIN POLARIZED FUEL TO GIVE INCREASED YIELD FOR LASER FUSION ENERGY

摘要

Approaches to Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) are advancing rapidly at present and potentially may lead to a secure and safe energy source for the future. For DT fusion it is known that the cross-section increases by 50% when the deuterium and tritium nuclei are spin polarized in parallel leading to significantly improved fusion energy yield and reduced ignition requirements. However, major challenges exist in manufacturing spin polarized fuel and questions must be addressed as to whether the polarization can be maintained during the laser compression and heating process prior to fuel ignition and burn.