An ion-electron non-equilibrium model for relaxing central hot-spot ignition conditions

This paper presents an ion-electron non-equilibrium model for relaxing the central hot-spot ignition conditions in inertial confinement fusion. The model emphasizes that the hot-spot ion temperature is higher than its electron temperature, so that the hot-spot nuclear reactions are enhanced and its energy leaks from radiation bremsstrahlung and electron conduction are relatively reduced. Both the hot-spot self-heating analysis and a more comprehensive hot-spot ignition-and-burn dynamics analysis show that as compared with the commonly used equilibrium model, the ignition region would be significantly enlarged in the hot-spot R-T space. Simulations are also done using the LARED-S code to show that a tuned radiation-drive wedged-peak pulse, which creates a secondary shock, could be utilized to enhance hot-spot non-equilibrium.