Coupling efficiency, the ratio of the capsule absorbed energy to the driver energy, is a key parameter in ignition targets. The hohlraum originally proposed for NIF coupled {approx}11% of the absorbed laser energy to the capsule as x-rays. We describe here a second generation of hohlraum target which has higher coupling efficiency, {approx}16%. Because the ignition capsule's ability to withstand 3D effects increases rapidly with absorbed energy, the additional energy can significantly increase the likelihood of ignition. The new target includes laser entrance hole (LEH) shields as a principal method for increasing coupling efficiency while controlling symmetry in indirect-drive ICF. The LEH shields are high Z disks placed inside the hohlraum to block the capsule's view of the cold LEHs. The LEH shields can reduce the amount of laser energy required to drive a target to a given temperature via two mechanisms: (1) keeping the temperature high near the capsule pole by putting a barrier between the capsule and the pole, (2) because the capsule pole does not have a view of the cold LEHs, good symmetry requires a shorter hohlraum with less wall area. Current integrated simulations of this class of target couple 140 kJ of x-rays to a capsule out of 865 kJ of absorbed laser energy and produce {approx}10 MJ of yield. In the current designs, which are not completely optimized, the addition of the LEH shields saves {approx}95 kJ of energy (about 10%) over hohlraums without LEH shields.

The central goal of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is demonstration of controlled thermonuclear ignition. The mainline ignition target is a low-Z, single-shell cryogenic capsule designed to have weakly nonlinear Rayleigh-Taylor growth of surface perturbations. Double-shell targets are an alternative design concept that avoids the complexity of cryogenic preparation but has greater physics uncertainties associated with performance-degrading mix. A typical double-shell design involves a high-Z inner capsule filled with DT gas and supported within a low-Z ablator shell. The largest source of uncertainty for this target is the degree of highly evolved nonlinear mix on the inner surface of the high-Z shell. High Atwood numbers and feed-through of strong outer surface perturbation growth to the inner surface promote high levels of instability. The main challenge of the double-shell target designs is controlling the resulting nonlinear mix to levels that allow ignition to occur. Design and analysis of a suite of indirect-drive NIF double-shell targets with hohlraum temperatures of 200 eV and 250 eV are presented. Analysis of these targets includes assessment of two-dimensional radiation asymmetry as well as nonlinear mix. Two-dimensional integrated hohlraum simulations indicate that the x-ray illumination can be adjusted to provide adequate symmetry control in hohlraums specially designed to have high laser-coupling efficiency [Suter et al., Phys. Plasmas 5, 2092 (2000)]. These simulations also reveal the need to diagnose and control localized 10-15 keV x-ray emission from the high-Z hohlraum wall because of strong absorption by the high-Z inner shell. Preliminary estimates of the degree of laser backscatter from an assortment of laser-plasma interactions suggest comparatively benign hohlraum conditions. Application of a variety of nonlinear mix models and phenomenological tools, including buoyancy-drag models, multimode simulations and fall-line optimization, indicates a possibility of achieving ignition, i.e., fusion yields greater than 1 MJ. Planned experiments on the Omega laser to test current understanding of high-energy radiation flux asymmetry and mix-induced yield degradation in double-shell targets are described.

In the fall of 2010, the Office of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Secretary for Science asked for a National Research Council (NRC) committee to investigate the prospects for generating power using inertial confinement fusion (ICF) concepts, acknowledging that a key test of viability for this concept-ignition -could be demonstrated at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the relatively near term. The committee was asked to provide an unclassified report. However, DOE indicated that to fully assess this topic, the committee's deliberations would have to be informed by the results of some classified experiments and information, particularly in the area of ICF targets and nonproliferation. Thus, the Panel on the Assessment of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets ("the panel") was assembled, composed of experts able to access the needed information. The panel was charged with advising the Committee on the Prospects for Inertial Confinement Fusion Energy Systems on these issues, both by internal discussion and by this unclassified report. A Panel on Fusion Target Physics ("the panel") will serve as a technical resource to the Committee on Inertial Confinement Energy Systems ("the Committee") and will prepare a report that describes the R&D challenges to providing suitable targets, on the basis of parameters established and provided to the Panel by the Committee. The Panel on Fusion Target Physics will prepare a report that will assess the current performance of fusion targets associated with various ICF concepts in order to understand: 1. The spectrum output; 2. The illumination geometry; 3. The high-gain geometry; and 4. The robustness of the target design. The panel addressed the potential impacts of the use and development of current concepts for Inertial Fusion Energy on the proliferation of nuclear weapons information and technology, as appropriate. The Panel examined technology options, but does not provide recommendations specific to any currently operating or proposed ICF facility.

Deposition of maximum laser energy into a small, high-Z enclosure in a short laser pulse creates a hot environment. Such targets were recently included in an experimental campaign using the first four of the 192 beams of the National Ignition Facility [J.A. Paisner, E.M. Campbell, and W.J. Hogan, Fusion Technology 26, 755 (1994)], under construction at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. These targets demonstrate good laser coupling, reaching a radiation temperature of 340 eV. In addition, the Raman backscatter spectrum contains features consistent with Brillouin backscatter of Raman forward scatter [A.B. Langdon and D.E. Hinkel, Physical Review Letters 89, 015003 (2002)]. Also, NIF Early Light diagnostics indicate that 20% of the direct backscatter from these reduced-scale targets is in the polarization orthogonal to that of the incident light.

A platform for analysis of material properties under extreme conditions, where a sample is bathed in radiation with a high temperature, is under development. This hot environment is produced with a laser by depositing maximum energy into a small, high-Z can. Such targets were recently included in an experimental campaign using the first four of the 192 beams of the National Ignition Facility, under construction at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. These targets demonstrate good laser coupling, reaching a radiation temperature of 340 eV. In addition, there is a unique wavelength dependence of the Raman backscattered light that is consistent with Brillouin backscatter of Raman forward scatter [A.B. Langdon and D.E. Hinkel, Physical Review Letters 89, 015003 (2002)]. Finally, novel diagnostic capabilities indicate that 20% of the direct backscatter from these reduced-scale targets is in the polarization orthogonal to that of the incident light.

Both Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories have studied capsule and laser driven target designs for the National Ignition Facility. The current hohlraum design is a 2.76mm radius, 9.5mm long gold cylinder with 1.39mm radius laser entrance holes covered by 1[mu]m thick plastic foils. Laser beams strike the inside cylinder wall from two separate cones with a peak power less than 400 TW. The problem with a pressure pulse caused by wall plasma stagnating on axis has been overcome by filling the hohlraum with gas. Currently this is equi-molar hydrogen-helium gas at 0.83 mg/cc density. One capsule uses a 160 [mu]m plastic ablator doped with oxygen and bromine surrounding an 80 [mu]m thick DT ice layer with an inner radius of 0.87 mm. Los Alamos integrated calculations of the hohlraum and this capsule using 1.4 MJ of laser energy achieve yields of 4.9 MJ using LTE atomic physics, and 3.5 MJ with non-LTE. This confirms Livermore calculations of ignition. For radiation driven implosions, a beryllium ablator offers a viable alternative to plastic. It is strong enough to contain high DT pressures. Copper, soluble at required levels, is an excellent dopant to add opacity. A beryllium capsule with a 155 [mu]m thick ablator doped with 0.9 atom % copper, and the same inner dimensions as the plastic capsule, placed in a similar hohlraum, yields 6.9 MJ with LTE. Although these calculations show the designs are sensitive, they add to the confidence that NIF can achieve ignition. Using their best integrated calculations which are not yet fully optimized, they confirm Livermore calculations of ignition with a plastic capsule, and have added an alternate capsule design with a beryllium ablator.

Minimum cost design concepts of the primary shield for the National Ignition laser fusion experimental Facility (NIF) are searched with the help of the optimization code SWAN. The computational method developed for this search involves incorporating the time dependence of the delayed photon field within effective delayed photon production cross sections. This method enables one to address the time-dependent problem using relatively simple, time-independent transport calculations, thus significantly simplifying the design process. A novel approach was used for the identification of the optimal combination of constituents that will minimize the shield cost; it involves the generation, with SWAN, of effectiveness functions for replacing materials on an equal cost basis. The minimum cost shield design concept was found to consist of a mixture of polyethylene and low cost, low activation materials such as SiC, with boron added near the shield boundaries.