inertial confinement
Implosion-based plasma trapping
Inertial confinement is a method of containing plasma by compressing it so rapidly that its own inertia keeps it together long enough for nuclear fusion to occur.
Powerful lasers or particle beams strike a fuel pellet from all sides, heating and crushing it before it can fly apart: inertial confinement fusion.
The approach contrasts with magnetic confinement, which uses magnetic fields to hold plasma in place.
- Lawson criterionMinimum conditions for fusion ignition
- implosionViolent collapse inward
- kinetic energyPower from movement
- shock wavesAbrupt pressure disturbances
- ignitionStarting combustion process
capsule · direct drive · thermodynamics · energy density · nuclear reactions · megajoule · coherent light · compression · phase transitions · heat transfer · symmetric · thermonuclear · fusion energy · tokamak · pulse · deuterium · dense · plasma
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