Hohlraum Targets Driven by Cluster Ion Beams for Inertial Confinement Fusion

Correlated ion stopping of charged debris resulting from the fragmentation of energetic cluster ions focussed on Au foam converters is considered for driving indirectly a thermonuclear capsule. The 1D simulation of converter time evolution demonstrates a very high conversion efficiency of projectile energy into hard X-ray photons building up a very hot (T_r > 300 eV) thermal bath. Intense and energetic cluster ion beams thus demonstrate considerable potential as a novel driver for inertial confinement fusion.