Welcome to IFSA2003
Get a Snapshot of the Conference:

>> Overview

>> Keynote Speakers

>> Conference Topics

Overview

The Third International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications (IFSA2003) will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center in Monterey, California, USA, 7 – 12 September, 2003. The host organization for this conference is the University of California.

The goal of IFSA2003 is to bring together scientists and engineers in the fields of inertial fusion sciences, high-energy-density physics, inertial fusion energy (IFE), and other related research and applications. Submitted papers will be peer-reviewed, and the proceedings of the conference will be published.

There has been rapid progress in theory and experiment that improves the understanding of ignition targets and increases the likelihood of their success. More robust indirect and direct-drive target designs have been developed over the past few years. These suggest that hot-spot ignition target performance will be better than originally predicted when the design and construction of ignition facilities (National Ignition Facility [NIF] at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [LLNL], and Laser MegaJoule [LMJ] in Bordeaux) began. Experimental progress has included near-simulated performance of cryogenic direct-drive targets and indirect-drive implosions with NIF-like illumination geometries on the OMEGA facility at the University of Rochester. There have also been exciting advances at Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, with the first Z-pinch–driven capsule implosions.

In the area of fast-ignition target physics, experiments at the recently completed Petawatt (PW) laser facility on Gekko XII at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), Osaka University, have produced dramatic new results on laser-target coupling, using “cone focus” targets. Other experiments around the world have also improved the basic understanding of the fast-ignition process. As a result, many research organizations now plan either to expand existing PW facilities or to propose building new ones.

Additionally, there has been significant progress in inertial fusion driver and power plant technology development that will eventually lead to integrated research experiments for one or more of the leading driver candidates. There have been significant advances in the research and development for ignition target fabrication, including the areas of capsule fabrication and cryogenics.

IFSA2003 will focus on reporting the progress in the last two years from all the above efforts. It will also give a view of the future that the new facilities under construction and/or under consideration will enable.

NIF in the USA and Ligne d'Integration Laser (LIL, a testbed for LMJ) in France are planning to achieve first light at about the time of IFSA2003. High-energy laser facilities like NIF and LMJ are expected to achieve ignition within about a decade. These facilities promise to produce an abundance of new data on both central-ignition and fast-ignition targets for all drivers. IFSA2003 will give participants a chance to take a special tour of NIF and the heavy-ion driver facilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) during the week of the conference.

Keynote Speakers

Robert McCrory
Director of LLE
University of Rochester
USA

Kunioki Mima
Professor of
Laser Engineering
Osaka University
Japan

René Pellat
High Commissioner
Atomic Energy Commission
France

Conference Topics

IFSA2003 will stress high-energy and high-intensity laser, pulsed-power, and particle-beam interactions with matter and high-energy-density physics as well as IFE power plant applications and technology. Results presented will include theory, modeling, and experimental results from high-intensity experimental facilities worldwide.