The Surface Dynamics of Liquid Metal Fusion Reactor Mirrors

The prospect of using laser-driven nuclear fusion reactions to provide an energy source for electric power generation has resulted in a number of engineering challenges. Not the least significant of these is the so-called "first wall problem," or the extreme thermal and atomic dislocation stresses resulting from the implantation of energetic alpha particles, deuterons, tritons, and x-rays in the top few microns of any solid material directly exposed to the target reaction1. (See Figure 1). While a variety of methods have been proposed1, 2, 3 to protect the structural sections of the reactor from this bombardment, only two options are considered feasible to protect the final optical elements which turn and/or focus the laser beams onto the target.