Isochoric heating of DT fuels through PW-laser-produced proton beams

Laser Proton Source (LPS) can generate short bunch of energetic protons with a nearly zero initial emittance. It is thus expected that LPS can deposit a very high density of energy inside dense matter, in particular, in the context of fast ignition of an inertial fusion target. We investigate here one of the factors that can limit the density of deposited energy. It concerns the transverse diffusion, occurring during the transport between the LPS and DT. As the rear surface of LPS should be efficiently protected, the proton along its path has to interact with a substantial amount of high-Z material. Therefore the induced transverse dispersion can become significant. The transport of the proton beam inside a plasma target is calculated using a numerical code, which main features are presented. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.