KrF Driver System Architecture for a Laser Fusion Power Plant

The laser driver system we describe is coupled to the SOMBRERO reactor concept. This is the Inertial Fusion for Energy (IFE) design concept generated by the W.J. Schafer Team for a recent DOE study¹. The nominal plant design has 1 GW electrical output and requires a KrF laser driver system that supplies 3.4 MJ per pulse onto a spherically symmetric, direct drive target, at a repetition rate of 6.7 pps. We describe an architecture which results from the constraints of what must be supplied at the target, coupled with a final amplifier design which makes use of e-beam pumped, angularly multiplexed, 60 kJ final amplifier cavities, recent technology advancements in e-beams and pulsed power, and which has been optimized for system efficiency. Driver system efficiency of more than 7% (“wall plug”), and an effective efficiency of more than 9%, obtained through utilization of laser waste heat, are projected.