High-density effects on thermonuclear ignition for inertially confined fusion
Alpha particles (3.5 MeV) from the deuterium-tritium reaction have been calculated to reflect from a high-Z, Fermi-degenerate shell surrounding the fuel of inertial fusion targets. This leads to a reduction in the minimum fuel rhoR (density-radius product) needed to sustain a thermonuclear burn, and possibly to a reduction of the minimum input energy required to achieve thermonuclear ignition.