Capsule (fuel capsule)

The small shell of fuel, a few millimetres across, that is compressed in inertial confinement fusion until it fuses. The fuel is a thin layer of frozen deuterium-tritium on the inside of the shell. In laser-driven fusion the capsule is imploded either by laser light striking it directly or, at the National Ignition Facility, by X-rays generated inside a surrounding hohlraum. The target is the whole assembly, hohlraum and capsule together. How much energy the capsule actually absorbs, as opposed to the laser energy delivered to the whole target, is the difference between capsule gain and target gain.

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