Laser fusion: the first ten years (1962-1972)

Ray E. Kidder

doi:10.1117/12.321569

14 September 1998 Laser fusion: the first ten years (1962-1972)

Ray E. Kidder

Proceedings Volume 3343, High-Power Laser Ablation; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.321569
Event: High-Power Laser Ablation, 1998, Santa Fe, NM, United States

Abstract

This account of the beginning of the program on laser fusion at Livermore in 1962, and its subsequent development during the decade ending in 1972, was originally prepared as a contribution to the January 1991 symposium 'Achievements in Physics' honoring Professor Keith Brueckner upon his retirement from the University of San Diego at La Jolla. It is not a review of the international effort in laser fusion research. It is a personal recollection of work at Livermore from my vantage point as its scientific leader, and of events elsewhere that I thought significant. This period was one of rapid growth in which the technology of high-power short-pulse lasers needed to drive the implosion of thermonuclear fuel to the temperature and density needed for ignition was developed, and in which the physics of the interaction of intense light with plasmas was explored both theoretically and experimentally.

Citation Download Citation

Ray E. Kidder "Laser fusion: the first ten years (1962-1972)", Proc. SPIE 3343, High-Power Laser Ablation, (14 September 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.321569

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