| Triggering nuclear fusion is not at all easy, but requires the satisfaction of all elements of "Lawson's criterion for fusion:" a temperature of over 100 million degrees; a "plasma" of naked nuclei in completely ionized state, with their electrons stripped; and the maintenance of an extremely high density of over 200 trillion nuclei per cubic centimeter for about one second. Many different kinds of attempts have been made to meet Lawson's criterion, one of these being the focusing of powerful laser beam to cause an implosion at the core. Researchers at Osaka University are investigating a method whereby powerful laser beams are focused from a device called the Gekko (from the Kanji characters for "laser") to a fusion fuel pellet capsule, triggering repeated momentary nuclear fusion events, and generating fusion energy from each event. |
