Energy deposition by fast protons in pellet fusion targets

The energy loss of energetic protons in heavy metal targets is calculated at temperatures and densities of interest for pellet fusion. The contributions of bound and free electrons to the stopping power are considered. It is found that in the temperature range of interest the increase in the number of free electrons in the target plasma causes range shortening with increasing temperatures and specific volumes. In order to study this effect on the ablation process, a one-dimensional calculation of the hydrodynamic flow with energy deposition was carried out.