Achieving thermonuclear ignition of inertial confinement fusion requires the rapid heating of the Deuterium–tritium (DT) ions to reach ignition conditions, where the energy generated from alpha particles produced in thermonuclear reactions offsets the energy loss due to bremsstrahlung radiation and thermal conduction. In this study, we investigate the potential of utilizing mid-Z atomic doping to enhance neutron production in the fast ignition regime (FI). In traditional central ignition schemes, where ion temperatures are close to the electron temperatures, doping not only diminishes the density of DT ion but also increases energy losses due to bremsstrahlung radiation, which negatively impacts the ion temperature and fusion neutron yield. Conversely, in FI, short-pulse relativistic electron beams initially heat the background electrons, which then transfer energy to ions via collisions, resulting in a lower ion temperature than the electron temperature. Through analytical models and Particle-In-Cell (PIC)-fluid hybrid simulations, we investigated the effects of various heating laser heating intensities, atomic numbers of the dopant, and doping concentrations on DT ion heating and neutron production. Our results show that mid-Z element doping can effectively shorten the electron-ion equilibrium time while keeping bremsstrahlung cooling at tolerable values, thereby enhancing the neutron yield. Specifically, doping a DT target with a peak density of 100g/cm³ with 1% chlorine can increase the neutron yield obtained from a 50 kJ, 5 ps laser pulse by 5 times.
 

Fast Ignition,PIC-Fluid Hybrid Simultion,Doping