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An experimental program is currently underway at the National IgnitionFacility (NIF) to compress deuterium and tritium (DT) fuel to densities andtemperatures sufficient to achieve fusion and energy gain. The primary approachbeing investigated is indirect drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF), where ahigh-Z radiation cavity (a hohlraum) is heated by lasers, converting theincident energy into x-ray radiation which in turn drives the DT fuel filledcapsule causing it to implode. Previous experiments reported DT fuel gainexceeding unity [O.A. Hurricane et al., Nature 506, 343 (2014)] and thenexceeding the kinetic energy of the imploding fuel [S. Le Pape et al., Phys.Rev. Lett. 120, 245003 (2018)]. We report on recent experiments that haveachieved record fusion neutron yields on NIF, greater than 100 kJ withmomentary fusion powers exceeding 1PW, and have for the first time entered theburning plasma regime where fusion alpha-heating of the fuel exceeds the energydelivered to the fuel via compression. This was accomplished by increasing thesize of the high-density carbon (HDC) capsule, increasing energy coupling,while controlling symmetry and implosion design parameters. Two tactics weresuccessful in controlling the radiation flux symmetry and therefore theimplosion symmetry: transferring energy between laser cones via plasma waves,and changing the shape of the hohlraum. In conducting these experiments, wecontrolled for known sources of degradation. Herein we show how theseexperiments were performed to produce record performance, and demonstrate thedata fidelity leading us to conclude that these shots have entered the burningplasma regime.

Experiments conducted in the burning plasma regime with inertial fusion implosions