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Separation of light ion species in the transition from shock-dominated to compressive inertial confinement fusion implosions

N. V. Kabadi*,†, P. J. Adrian‡, T. Evans, M. Gatu Johnson, C. K. Li, F. H. Séguin, G. D. Sutcliffe§, R. D. Petrasso, and J. A. Frenje

C. Forrest, V. Yu Glebov, R. Janezic, and C. Stoeckl∥

  • *Contact author: neelkabadi@lle.rochester.edu
  • †Present address: University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, NY, USA.
  • ‡Present address: Pacific Fusion, San Leandro, CA, USA.
  • §Present address: Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA.
  • ∥Present address: Marvel Fusion, Hamburg, Germany.
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033356 – Published 23 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hzvv-p4d6

Abstract

A series of glass-shell DHe3 gas-filled implosions was carried out on the OMEGA Laser Facility. In these experiments, the thicknesses of the glass shells were varied from 4.2 to 9.4 µm, producing implosions that spanned from shock-to-compression-dominated emission. Data from several diagnostics were used to infer the conditions and nuclear yields for the DHe3-p and DD-n reactions during shock and compression burns. From the inferred yields and ion temperatures, the deuterium fractions in the hot spot during both emission phases were estimated. It is found that there is a substantial surplus (∼5%) of deuterium in the hot spot compared to the initial fill fraction during both shock and compression phases for all implosion types. This is the first measurement indicating persistent species separation throughout both phases of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions. In ICF implosions, deviations from a 50:50 species ratio will decrease the fusion rate, directly impacting performance. Future ICF implosion design work would benefit from including models that capture multi-ion dynamics.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033356– Published 23 September, 2026
  • Received 9 February 2025
  • Accepted 12 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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