“We expected a similar yield,” Dr. Town said.
The better-than-predicted result indicates that with a few tweaks, laser fusion can become markedly more efficient.
“It was a little bit surprising that we did not achieve ignition on all of them,” Dr. Town said.
Instead of laser energy arriving perfectly balanced to compress the hydrogen fuel capsule, a slight imbalance nudges the capsule off in one direction.
“If you can couple effectively more energy to the hot spot, you should get more yield,” Dr. Town said.
Persons:
“, ”, Siegfried Glenzer
Organizations:
TNT, Livermore, Accelerator Laboratory
Locations:
Menlo Park, Calif, Livermore