A hohlraum is a cylinder-shaped device used to focus and control radiation, often made of lead and containing a small fuel capsule. It can be used to simulate miniature-scale nuclear explosions or produce energy with lasers. The X-rays created are absorbed and re-radiated symmetrically inside to check the stability of the system during an experiment. The reaction within the cavity compresses the fuel pellet and heats it to a temperature higher than that of the sun.
A hohlraum is a hollow, cylinder-shaped device that is used to focus and control radiation. Named for the German word for hollow area, the device distributes radiation evenly within its walls and heats a small piece of fuel in the center. It can be as small as a paper clip or pencil eraser, or it can include the casing of a nuclear weapon. A hohlraum capsule can be used to simulate miniature-scale nuclear explosions, or with lasers to produce energy when a small sample of the fuel inside, such as deuterium or tritium, is imploded. A small hole in the container can be used to measure the radiation that escapes and how it behaves at temperatures within the interior space.
Focusing a strong radiation source such as a laser into the interior of a hohlraum can create a fusion reaction which is contained within. The X-rays created are absorbed and re-radiated symmetrically inside to check the stability of the system during an experiment. This stability allows for spherical explosions, which helps make experiments accurate and contain intense reactions. Hohlraums can be used during fusion and fission reactions and are the focal point in a nuclear weapon for both primary and secondary atomic reactions.
Often made of lead, a hohlraum is constructed to include a small, spherical fuel capsule. The laser beams are directed through the hole at the end of the part, react with the internal walls and produce X-rays. These X-rays are continuously deflected between the walls and raise the temperature until it is high enough to ignite the fuel. By indirectly heating the interior, the need to precisely focus the energy on the fuel pellet with a laser is avoided. Sometimes a thin layer of foam is used as an internal lining to conduct heat and distribute X-rays more evenly.
The reaction within the cavity also compresses the deuterium, tritium or beryllium fuel pellet and heats it to a temperature higher than that of the sun. With just hydrogen and helium, temperatures can rise to millions of degrees inside the hohlraum. Researchers think such reactions could be used as an energy source. The Hohlraums absorb so much energy from the lasers that computer simulations conducted before the experiments don’t show how well the absorption occurs. To produce a significant amount of energy, however, the reactions that are conducted in laboratories would have to occur a few times per second for a constant flow of energy.
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