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Plastic deformation of samples compressed to Mbar pressures at high strain rates at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) forms the basis of ongoing material strength experiments in conditions relevant to meteor impacts, geophysics, armor development, and inertial confinement fusion. Hard x-ray radiography is the primary means of measuring the evolution of these samples, typically employing a slit-collimated high-Z microdot driven by the NIF laser to generate > 40 keV x rays [E. Gumbrell et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 89, 10G118 (2018) and C. M. Huntington et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 89, 10G121 (2018)]. Alternatively, a dysprosium "micro-flag" target driven by the Advanced Radiographic Capability laser (∼ 2 kJ, 10 ps) can deliver significantly higher spatiotemporal resolution [M. P. Hill et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 92, 033535 (2021)], especially in high-opacity samples. Initial experiments revealed problematic brightness and spectral gradients from this source, but by radiographing a set of diamond-turned, 105 µm-thick Pb test objects and supported by simulations using the 3D Monte Carlo code GEANT4, these geometry-dependent gradients across the field of view are quantified and mitigation strategies are assessed. In addition to significantly enhancing the modulation transfer function compared to the existing system, image stacking from multiple layers of image plate is shown to almost double the signal to noise ratio that will reduce uncertainties in future dynamic strength experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiography of low-contrast features in high-density materials evolving on a nanosecond timescale requires a bright photon source in the tens of keV range with high temporal and spatial resolution. One application for sources in this category is the study of dynamic material strength in samples compressed to Mbar pressures at the National Ignition Facility, high-resolution measurements of plastic deformation under conditions relevant to meteor impacts, geophysics, armor development, and inertial confinement fusion. We present radiographic data and the modulation transfer function (MTF) analysis of a multi-component test object probed at ∼100 keV effective backlighter energy using a 5 μm-thin dysprosium foil driven by the NIF Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) short-pulse laser (∼2 kJ, 10 ps). The thin edge of the foil acts as a bright line-projection source of hard x rays, which images the test object at 13.2× magnification into a filtered and shielded image plate detector stack. The system demonstrates a superior contrast of shallow (5 μm amplitude) sinusoidal ripples on gold samples up to 90 μm thick as well as enhanced spatial and temporal resolution using only a small fraction of the laser energy compared to an existing long-pulse-driven backlighter used routinely at the NIF for dynamic strength experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-wavelength, high contrast contact radiography system has been developed to characterize density variations in ultra-low density aerogel foams. These foams are used to generate a ramped pressure drive in materials strength experiments at the National Ignition Facility and require precision characterization in order to reduce errors in measurements. The system was used to characterize density variations in carbon and silicon based aerogels to ∼10.3% accuracy with ∼30 μm spatial resolution. The system description, performance, and measurement results collected using a 17.8 mg/cc carbon based JX-6 (C20H30) aerogel are discussed in this manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated radiation hydrodynamic modeling in two dimensions, including the hohlraum and capsule, of layered cryogenic HighFoot Deuterium-Tritium (DT) implosions on the NIF successfully predicts important data trends. The model consists of a semi-empirical fit to low mode asymmetries and radiation drive multipliers to match shock trajectories, one dimensional inflight radiography, and time of peak neutron production. Application of the model across the HighFoot shot series, over a range of powers, laser energies, laser wavelengths, and target thicknesses predicts the neutron yield to within a factor of two for most shots. The Deuterium-Deuterium ion temperatures and the DT down scattered ratios, ratio of (10-12)/(13-15) MeV neutrons, roughly agree with data at peak fuel velocities <340 km/s and deviate at higher peak velocities, potentially due to flows and neutron scattering differences stemming from 3D or capsule support tent effects. These calculations show a significant amount alpha heating, 1-2.5× for shots where the experimental yield is within a factor of two, which has been achieved by increasing the fuel kinetic energy. This level of alpha heating is consistent with a dynamic hot spot model that is matched to experimental data and as determined from scaling of the yield with peak fuel velocity. These calculations also show that low mode asymmetries become more important as the fuel velocity is increased, and that improving these low mode asymmetries can result in an increase in the yield by a factor of several. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of silver K-shell and bremsstrahlung emission from thin-foil laser targets as a function of laser prepulse energy are presented. The silver targets were chosen as a potential 22 keV backlighter source for the National Ignition Facility Experiments. The targets were irradiated by the Titan laser with an intensity of 8 x 1017 W/cm² with 40 ps pulse length. A secondary nanosecond timescale laser pulse with controlled, variable energy was used to emulate the laser prepulse. Results show a decrease in both Kα and bremsstrahlung yield with increasing artificial prepulse. Radiation hydrodynamic modeling of the prepulse interaction determined that the preplasma and intact target fraction were different in the three prepulse energies investigated. Interaction of the short pulse laser with the resulting preplasma and target was then modeled using a particle-in-cell code PSC which explained the experimental results. The relevance of this work to future Advanced Radiographic Capability laser x-ray backlighter sources is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a hohlraum produced thermal x-ray drive at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to create pressure by material ablation, a shock exceeding 200 Mbar can be driven through a planar, solid-density target and into a lower-density foam material. The shock driven through the foam is strongly radiative, and this radiation significantly alters the dynamics of the system, including those of the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) fluid instability at the interface between the two materials. We discuss here the design of experiments that can produce such radiative conditions. One will be able to compare the observed growth rates with an extensive body of hydrodynamic experiments performed previously. In this paper, we describe a set of 1D simulations performed to understand the mechanisms of stabilization in a strongly radiative Rayleigh-Taylor unstable system. Simulation results are used to calculate modified analytic RT growth rates which have been proposed in the literature. Calculations predict reduced RT spike growth as a result of increases in density gradient scale length and mass ablation from the unstable interface. This work has direct applicability to the observable features in upcoming NIF experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Line emission and broadband x-ray sources with x-ray energies above 10 keV have been investigated using a range of calibrated x-ray detectors for use as x-ray backlighters in high energy density (HED) experiments. The conversion efficiency of short- and long-pulse driven Mo and Ag line-emission backlighters at 17 and 22 keV was measured to investigate the crossover region between short- and long-pulse conversion efficiency. It was found that significant 17 and 22 keV line emissions were observed using a 3 ω, 1 ns long-pulse drive for Mo and Ag targets and a comparison between the measured Mo x-ray spectrum and calculations using an atomic physics code suggests that the line emission is due to thermal emission from N-like Mo atoms. Electron temperatures derived from fits to the continuum region of the x-ray spectra agree well with the Thot scaling as 100×(Iλ2)1/3. The continuum emissions from empty and 1 atm Kr-filled imploded CH shell targets were also measured for the use as broadband backlighters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The x-ray spectrum between 18 and 88 keV generated by a petawatt laser driven x-ray backlighter target was measured using a 12-channel differential filter pair spectrometer. The spectrometer consists of a series of filter pairs on a Ta mask coupled with an x-ray sensitive image plate. A calibration of Fuji™ MS and SR image plates was conducted using a tungsten anode x-ray source and the resulting calibration applied to the design of the Ross pair spectrometer. Additionally, the fade rate and resolution of the image plate system were measured for quantitative radiographic applications. The conversion efficiency of laser energy into silver Kα x rays from a petawatt laser target was measured using the differential filter pair spectrometer and compared to measurements using a single photon counting charge coupled device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rugby-shaped hohlraums have been proposed as a method for x-ray drive enhancement for indirectly driven capsule implosions. This concept has recently been tested in a series of shots on the OMEGA laser facility [T. R. Boehly, D. L. Brown, R. S. Craxton et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. In this paper, experimental results are presented comparing the performance of D2-filled capsules between standard cylindrical Au hohlraums and rugby-shaped hohlraums. The rugby hohlraums demonstrated 18% more x-ray drive energy as compared with the cylinders, and the high-performance design of these implosions (both cylinder and rugby) also provided ≈20× more deuterium (DD) neutrons than any previous indirectly driven campaign on OMEGA and ≈3× more than ever achieved on NOVA [E. M. Campbell, Laser Part. Beams 9, 209 (1991)] implosions driven with nearly twice the laser energy. This increase in performance enables, for the first time, a measurement of the neutron burn history and imaging of the neutron core shapes in an indirectly driven implosion. Previous DD neutron yields had been too low to register this key measurement of capsule performance and the effects of dynamic mix. A wealth of additional data on the fuel areal density from the suite of charged particle diagnostics was obtained on a subset of the shots that used D 3He rather than D2 fuel. Comparisons of the experimental results with numerical simulations are shown to be in very good agreement. The design techniques employed in this campaign, e.g., smaller laser entrance holes and hohlraum case-to-capsule ratios, provide added confidence in the pursuit of ignition on the National Ignition Facility [J. D. Lindl, P. Amendt, R. L. Berger et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 339 (2004)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The x-ray photon counting efficiency of various charged-coupled device (CCD) based cameras was studied as a function of photon energy and exposure. A pair of Spectral Instruments model 800 CCD cameras fitted with 16 μm thick back-illuminated CCDs were calibrated at low x-ray energy using two well established histogram methods. In addition, two new thick substrate CCDs were evaluated for use at high energy. One was a commercially available Princeton Instruments PI-LCX1300 deep depletion CCD camera, while the other used a custom designed 650 μm thick partially depleted CCD fitted to a Spectral Instruments model 800 camera body. It is shown that at high x-ray energy, a pixel-summing algorithm is necessary to reconstruct the x-ray spectra in the thicker substrate CCDs. This paper will describe the different algorithms used to extract spectra and the absolute detection efficiencies using these algorithms. These detectors and algorithms will be very useful in detecting high-energy x-ray photons from high-intensity short-pulse laser interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present scaled demonstrations of backlighter sources, emitting bremsstrahlung x rays with photon energies above 75 keV, that we will use to record x-ray Compton radiographic snapshots of cold dense DT fuel in inertial confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In experiments performed at the Titan laser facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we measured the source size and the bremsstrahlung spectrum as a function of laser intensity and pulse length from solid targets irradiated at 2×1017–5×1018 W/cm2 using 2–40 ps pulses. Using Au planar foils we achieved source sizes down to 5.5 μm and conversion efficiencies of about 1×10-13 J/J into x-ray photons with energies in the 75–100 keV spectral range. We can now use these results to design NIF backlighter targets and shielding and to predict Compton radiography performance as a function of the NIF implosion yield and associated background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

17–75 keV one- and two-dimensional high-resolution (<10 μm) radiography has been developed using high-intensity short pulse lasers. High energy Kα sources are created by fluorescence from hot electrons interacting in the target material after irradiation by lasers with intensity IL>1017 W/cm2. High-resolution point projection one- and two-dimensional radiography has been achieved using microfoil and microwire targets attached to low-Z substrate materials. The microwire size was 10 μm×10 μm×300 μm on a 300 μm×300 μm×5 μm polystyrene substrate. The radiography experiments were performed using the Titan laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The results show that the resolution is dominated by the microwire target size and there is very little degradation from the plasma plume, implying that the high-energy x-ray photons are generated mostly within the microwire volume. There are enough Kα photons created with a 300 J, 1-ω, 40 ps pulse laser from these small volume targets, and that the signal-to-noise ratio is sufficiently high, for single shot radiography experiments. This unique technique will be used on future high energy density experiments at many new high-power laser facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter we report on the direct density measurement in a shock compressed aluminum target using hard x-ray radiography. Experimental data employing a molybdenum Kα source at 17.5 keV, generated with a short pulse laser are presented. High spatial resolution was obtained thanks to a new design for the backlighter geometry. Density values deduced from radiography are compared to predictions from hydrodynamic simulations, which have been calibrated in order to reproduce shock velocities measured from a rear-side self-emission diagnostic. Our results reveal the great potential of this technique as a diagnostic tool for direct density measurements in dense high-Z opaque materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report recent progress in x-ray diagnosis of laser-plasma experiments using imaging plates. Imaging plates are photostimulable phosphor screens [BaF(Br0.85,I0.15):Eu2+] deposited on flexible metal or plastic substrates. We applied imaging plates to x-ray microscopy of inertial confinement fusion experiments. Self-emission x-ray images of imploded cores were obtained successfully with high-magnification, target-mounted pinholes using imaging plates as detectors. Imaging plates were also used in ultraintense laser experiments at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, where small samarium foils were irradiated by high intensity laser pulses from the Vulcan laser system. K-shell x rays from the foil (∼40 keV) were used as a line x-ray source for one-dimensional microscopic radiography, and the performance of imaging plates on high-energy x-ray backlit radiography experiments was demonstrated by imaging sinusoidal grooves of 6 μm amplitude on a Au foil. Detailed K-shell spectra from Cu targets were also obtained by coupling an imaging plate with a highly ordered pyrolytic graphite crystal spectrometer. The performance of the imaging plates as evaluated in actual laser plasma experiments is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of 22–40 keV Kα x-ray sources are measured. These high-energy sources are produced by 100 TW and petawatt high-intensity lasers and will be used to develop and implement workable radiography solutions to probe high-Z and dense materials for the high-energy density experiments. The measurements show that the Kα source size from a simple foil target is larger than 60 μm, too large for most radiography applications. The total Kα yield is independent of target thicknesses, verifying that refluxing plays a major role in photon generation. Smaller radiating volumes emit brighter Kα radiation. One-dimensional radiography experiments using small-edge-on foils resolved 10 μm features with high contrast. Experiments were performed to test a variety of small volume two-dimensional point sources such as cones, wires, and embedded wires, measured photon yields, and compared the measurements with predictions from hybrid-particle-in-cell simulations. In addition to high-energy, high-resolution backlighters, future experiments will also need imaging detectors and diagnostic tools that are workable in the high-energy range. An initial look at some of these detector issues is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new diagnostic for measuring Bragg diffraction of petawatt-generated high-energy x rays off a laser-compressed crystal was designed and tested successfully at the Omega EP laser facility on static Mo and Ta (111) oriented single crystal samples using a 17.5 keV Mo Kα backlighter. The Bragg diffraction imager consists of a heavily shielded enclosure and a precisely positioned beam block attached to the enclosure by an aluminum arm. Fuji image plates are used as the x-ray detectors. The diffraction from Mo and Ta (222) crystal planes was clearly detected with a high signal-to-noise. This technique will be applied to shock- and quasi-isentropically loaded single crystals on the Omega EP laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dante is an 18 channel x-ray filtered diode array which records the spectrally and temporally resolved radiation flux from various targets (e.g., hohlraums, etc.) at x-ray energies between 50 eV and 10 keV. It is a main diagnostic installed on the OMEGA laser facility at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester. The absolute flux is determined from the photometric calibration of the x-ray diodes, filters and mirrors, and an unfold algorithm. Understanding the errors on this absolute measurement is critical for understanding hohlraum energetic physics. We present a new method for quantifying the uncertainties on the determined flux using a Monte Carlo parameter variation technique. This technique combines the uncertainties in both the unfold algorithm and the error from the absolute calibration of each channel into a one sigma Gaussian error function. One thousand test voltage sets are created using these error functions and processed by the unfold algorithm to produce individual spectra and fluxes. Statistical methods are applied to the resultant set of fluxes to estimate error bars on the measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are developing a petawatt laser for use as a high-energy backlighter source in the 20–100 keV range on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). High-energy x-ray backlighters will be essential for radiographing high-energy-density experimental science (HEDES) targets, especially to probe implosions and high areal density planar samples. For these high energy backlighter imaging experiments, we are developing two types of detectors: a columnar grown CsI scintillator coupled to a 2 K×2 K charge-coupled device camera, and a CdTe crystal with special application specific integrated circuit readout electronics in a 508×512 format array. We characterized these sensors using Cd109 and Am241 radioactive isotopes. In addition, we employed them to measure the Sm Kα source size generated by the short pulse laser, JanUSP, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The CsI camera performed well, allowing a measurement of the Sm Kα source size. Calibration of this camera has shown that it has low noise and good resolution. The new CdTe camera performed well, however the noise level was too high for single photon counting. Some modifications to the camera will also be necessary in order to meet the needs of future hard x-ray experiments. Both cameras showed considerable promise as diagnostic tools for future high-energy x-ray backlighters for NIF HEDES experiments. This article will present the results of our characterizations of these detectors, and initial results from the JanUSP experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High energy (>10 keV) x-ray self-emission imaging and radiography will be essential components of many NIF high energy density physics experiments. In preparation for such experiments, we have evaluated the pros and cons of various static [x-ray film, bare charge-coupled device (CCD), and scintillator + CCD] and time-resolved (streaked and gated) 10–1000 keV detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrodynamic instabilities are a major obstacle in the quest to achieve ignition as they cause preexisting capsule defects to grow and ultimately quench the fusion burn in experiments at the National Ignition Facility. Unstable growth at the ablation front has been dramatically reduced in implosions with "high-foot" drives as measured using x-ray radiography of modulations at the most dangerous wavelengths (Legendre mode numbers of 30-90). These growth reductions have helped to improve the performance of layered DT implosions reported by O. A. Hurricane et al. [Nature (London) 506,343 (2014)], when compared to previous "low-foot" experiments, demonstrating the value of stabilizing ablation-front growth and providing directions for future ignition designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]