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Here, kinetic effects on inertial confinement fusion have been investigated. In particular, inter-ion-species diffusion and suprathermal ion distribution have been analyzed. The former drives separation of the fuel constituents in the hot reacting core and governs mix at the shell/fuel interface. The latter underlie measurements obtained with nuclear diagnostics, including the fusion yield and inferred ion burn temperatures. Basic mechanisms behind and practical consequences from these effects are discussed.

C.B. Yeamans, W. Cassata, J.A. Church, D.N. Fittinghoff, M. Gatu Johnson, N. Gharibyan, R. Hatarik, D.B. Sayre, H.W. Sio, R.M. Bionta, D.L. Bleuel, J.A. Caggiano, C.J. Cerjan, G.W. Copper, M.J. Eckart, E.R. Edwards, S.A. Faye, C.J. Forrest, J.A. Frenje, V.Yu. Glebov, P.F. Grant, G.P. Grim, E.P. Hartouni, H.W. Herrmann, J.D. Kilkenny, J.P. Knauer, A.J. Mackinnon, F.E. Merrill, K.J. Moody, M.J. Moran, R.D. Petrasso, T.W. Phillips, H.G. Rinderknecht, D. H. G. Schneider, S.M. Sepke, D.A. Shaughnessy, W. Stoeffl, C.A. Velsko, P. Volegov 1 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, USA 2 General Atomics, San Diego, California, USA 3 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 5 University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA 6 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 7 University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, New York, USA yeamans1@llnl.gov

A platform has been developed for generating large and relatively quiescent plasmas in the warm-dense matter (WDM) regime on the OMEGA laser facility. A cylindrical geometry is used to allow charged-particle probing along the axis. The plasma heating is radiative by L-shell emission generated on the outside of the cylinder. The cylinder drive is characterized with x-ray diagnostics. Possibilities for direct characterization of the plasma temperature are discussed. Lastly, the unimportance of electromagnetic fields around the target is demonstrated with proton radiography. We expect this platform to be used extensively in future experiments studying charged-particle stopping in this regime.

Direct-drive-implosion experiments from both OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are critical to gain confidence in ignition predictions on the NIF. Adequate performance of hydrodynamically scaled 1.8-MJ ignition designs must be obtained on OMEGA at 26 kJ. Implosions on the NIF must be used to identify and mitigate the effect of laser-plasma interactions (LPI's) on hydrodynamic parameters at the NIF scale. Results from spherically driven OMEGA cryogenic implosion experiments are described. Mitigation of nonuniformity sources and cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) is important for improving target performance on OMEGA. Initial polar-driven implosion experiments on the NIF have provided valuable measurements of trajectory and symmetry. Simulations that include the effect of CBET more closely reproduce the observed velocity.

An improved the set of nuclear diagnostics on NIF measures the properties of the stagnation plasma of implosions, including the drift velocity, areal density (ρr) anisotropy and carbon ρr of the compressed core. Two types of deuterium-tritium (DT) gas filled targets are imploded by shaped x-ray pulses, producing stagnated and burning DT cores of radial convergence (Cr) ~ 5 or ~20. Comparison with two-dimensional modeling with inner and outer surface mix shows good agreement with nuclear measurements.

We have studied the energy dependence of the reaction mechanism of the T(t,2n)4 He reaction at stellar energies and of its charge symmetric analog reaction 3 He(3 He,2p)4 He at energies up 10 MeV. We find that the reaction mechanism changes dramatically over this energy range in part due to the interference of the two identical fermions in the three-body final state.

We present in this article direct-drive experiments that were carried out on the Omega facility [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. Two different pulse shapes were tested in order to vary the implosion stability of the same target whose parameters, dimensions and composition, remained the same. The direct-drive configuration on the Omega facility allows the accurate time-resolved measurement of the scattered light. We show that, provided the laser coupling is well controlled, the implosion time history, assessed by the “bang-time” and the shell trajectory measurements, can be predicted. This conclusion is independent on the pulse shape. In contrast, we show that the pulse shape affects the implosion stability, assessed by comparing the target performances between prediction and measurement. For the 1-ns square pulse, the measured neutron number is about 80% of the prediction. For the 2-step 2-ns pulse, we test here that this ratio falls to about 20%.

The particle-time-of-flight (pTOF) diagnostic, fielded alongside a wedge range-filter (WRF) proton spectrometer, will provide an absolute timing for the shock-burn weighted ρR measurements that will validate the modeling of implosion dynamics at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In the first phase of the project, pTOF has recorded accurate bang times in cryogenic DT, DT exploding pusher, and D(3)He implosions using DD or DT neutrons with an accuracy better than ±70 ps. In the second phase of the project, a deflecting magnet will be incorporated into the pTOF design for simultaneous measurements of shock- and compression-bang times in D(3)He-filled surrogate implosions using D(3)He protons and DD-neutrons, respectively.

Compact wedge-range-filter proton spectrometers cover proton energies ∼3-20 MeV. They have been used at the OMEGA laser facility for more than a decade for measuring spectra of primary D(3)He protons in D(3)He implosions, secondary D(3)He protons in DD implosions, and ablator protons in DT implosions; they are now being used also at the National Ignition Facility. The spectra are used to determine proton yields, shell areal density at shock-bang time and compression-bang time, fuel areal density, and implosion symmetry. There have been changes in fabrication and in analysis algorithms, resulting in a wider energy range, better accuracy and precision, and better robustness for survivability with indirect-drive inertial-confinement-fusion experiments.

DT neutron yield (Y(n)), ion temperature (T(i)), and down-scatter ratio (dsr) determined from measured neutron spectra are essential metrics for diagnosing the performance of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). A suite of neutron-time-of-flight (nTOF) spectrometers and a magnetic recoil spectrometer (MRS) have been implemented in different locations around the NIF target chamber, providing good implosion coverage and the complementarity required for reliable measurements of Y(n), T(i), and dsr. From the measured dsr value, an areal density (ρR) is determined through the relationship ρR(tot) (g∕cm(2)) = (20.4 ± 0.6) × dsr(10-12 MeV). The proportionality constant is determined considering implosion geometry, neutron attenuation, and energy range used for the dsr measurement. To ensure high accuracy in the measurements, a series of commissioning experiments using exploding pushers have been used for in situ calibration of the as-built spectrometers, which are now performing to the required accuracy. Recent data obtained with the MRS and nTOFs indicate that the implosion performance of cryogenically layered DT implosions, characterized by the experimental ignition threshold factor (ITFx), which is a function of dsr (or fuel ρR) and Y(n), has improved almost two orders of magnitude since the first shot in September, 2010.

Ignition implosions on the National Ignition Facility [J. D. Lindl et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 339 (2004)] are underway with the goal of compressing deuterium-tritium fuel to a sufficiently high areal density (ρR) to sustain a self-propagating burn wave required for fusion power gain greater than unity. These implosions are driven with a very carefully tailored sequence of four shock waves that must be timed to very high precision to keep the fuel entropy and adiabat low and ρR high. The first series of precision tuning experiments on the National Ignition Facility, which use optical diagnostics to directly measure the strength and timing of all four shocks inside a hohlraum-driven, cryogenic liquid-deuterium-filled capsule interior have now been performed. The results of these experiments are presented demonstrating a significant decrease in adiabat over previously untuned implosions. The impact of the improved shock timing is confirmed in related deuterium-tritium layered capsule implosions, which show the highest fuel compression (ρR~1.0 g/cm(2)) measured to date, exceeding the previous record [V. Goncharov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 165001 (2010)] by more than a factor of 3. The experiments also clearly reveal an issue with the 4th shock velocity, which is observed to be 20% slower than predictions from numerical simulation.

The MIT Linear Electrostatic Ion Accelerator (LEIA) generates DD and D(3)He fusion products for the development of nuclear diagnostics for Omega, Z, and the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Significant improvements to the system in recent years are presented. Fusion reaction rates, as high as 10(7) s(-1) and 10(6) s(-1) for DD and D(3)He, respectively, are now well regulated with a new ion source and electronic gas control system. Charged fusion products are more accurately characterized, which allows for better calibration of existing nuclear diagnostics. In addition, in situ measurements of the on-target beam profile, made with a CCD camera, are used to determine the metrology of the fusion-product source for particle-counting applications. Finally, neutron diagnostics development has been facilitated by detailed Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport (MCNP) modeling of neutrons in the accelerator target chamber, which is used to correct for scattering within the system. These recent improvements have resulted in a versatile platform, which continues to support the existing nuclear diagnostics while simultaneously facilitating the development of new diagnostics in aid of the National Ignition Campaign at the National Ignition Facility.

Measurements of the neutron spectrum from the T(t,2n)4He (tt) reaction have been conducted using inertial confinement fusion implosions at the OMEGA laser facility. In these experiments, deuterium-tritium (DT) gas-filled capsules were imploded to study the tt reaction in thermonuclear plasmas at low reactant center-of-mass (c.m.) energies. In contrast to accelerator experiments at higher c.m. energies (above 100 keV), these results indicate a negligible n + 5He reaction channel at a c.m. energy of 23 keV.

When used at facilities like OMEGA and the NIF, CR-39 is exposed to high vacuum environments before and after irradiation by charged particles and neutrons. Using an electrostatic linear accelerator at MIT, studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of high vacuum exposure on the sensitivity of CR-39 to fusion protons in the ~1-9 MeV energy range. High vacuum conditions, of order 10(-5) Torr, experienced by CR-39 samples at these facilities were emulated. It is shown that vacuum exposure times longer than ~16 h before proton irradiation result in a decrease in proton sensitivity, whereas no effect was observed for up to 67 h of vacuum exposure after proton irradiation. CR-39 sensitivity curves are presented for samples with prolonged exposure to high vacuum before and after proton irradiation.

For the first time the differential cross section for the elastic neutron-triton (n-(3)H) and neutron-deuteron (n-(2)H) scattering at 14.1 MeV has been measured by using an inertial confinement fusion facility. In these experiments, which were carried out by simultaneously measuring elastically scattered (3)H and (2)H ions from a deuterium-tritium gas-filled inertial confinement fusion capsule implosion, the differential cross section for the elastic n-(3)H scattering was obtained with significantly higher accuracy than achieved in previous accelerator experiments. The results compare well with calculations that combine the resonating-group method with an ab initio no-core shell model, which demonstrate that recent advances in ab initio theory can provide an accurate description of light-ion reactions.

Direct-drive implosions with 20-microm-thick glass shells were conducted on the Omega Laser Facility to test the performance of high-Z glass ablators for direct-drive, inertial confinement fusion. The x-ray signal caused by hot electrons generated by two-plasmon-decay instability was reduced by more than approximately 40x and hot-electron temperature by approximately 2x in the glass compared to plastic ablators at ignition-relevant drive intensities of approximately 1x10(15) W/cm2, suggesting reduced target preheat. The measured absorption and compression were close to 1D predictions. The measured soft x-ray production in the spectral range of approximately 2 to 4 keV was approximately 2x to 3x lower than 1D predictions, indicating that the shell preheat caused by soft x-rays is less than predicted. A direct-drive-ignition design based on glass ablators is introduced.

A fusion-product source, utilizing a 150 kV Cockraft-Walton linear accelerator, has been refurbished to provide a reliable nuclear diagnostic development tool to the national inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research program. The accelerator is capable of routinely generating DD reaction rates at approximately 10(7)/s when using a 150 kV, 150 microA deuterium (D) beam onto an erbium (Er) or titanium (Ti) target doped with D, and D(3)He reaction rates at approximately 5 x 10(5)/s when using a using a 120 kV, approximately 100 microA D beam onto a Er or Ti target doped with (3)He. The new accelerator is currently being used in a number of projects related to the national ICF program at the OMEGA Laser Fusion Facility [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], which includes the wedge range filter charged-particle spectrometry program [F. H. Seguin et al., Rev. Sci Instrum. 75, 3520 (2004)] and the magnetic recoil neutron spectrometer [J. A. Frenje et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 72, 854 (2001)].

Direct-drive, planar-target Rayleigh-Taylor growth experiments were performed for the first time to test fundamental physics in hydrocodes at peak drive intensities of ignition designs. The unstable modulation growth at a drive intensity of approximately 1 x 10(15) W/cm2 was strongly stabilized compared to the growth at an intensity of approximately 5 x 10(14) W/cm2. The experiments demonstrate that standard simulations based on a local model of electron thermal transport break down at peak intensities of ignition designs (although they work well at lower intensities). The preheating effects by nonlocal electron transport and hot electrons were identified as some of the stabilizing mechanisms.

The first time-dependent nuclear measurements of turbulent mix in inertial confinement fusion have been obtained. Implosions of spherical deuterated-plastic shells filled with pure 3He gas require atomic-scale mixing of the shell and gas for the D-3He nuclear reaction to proceed. The time necessary for Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) growth to induce mix delays peak nuclear production time, compared to equivalent capsules filled with a D2-3He mixture, by 75+/-30 ps, equal to half the nuclear burn duration. These observations indicate the likelihood of atomic mix at the tips of core-penetrating RT spikes.

By increasing the velocity in “high foot” implosions [Dittrich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 055002 (2014); Park et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 055001 (2014); Hurricane et al., Nature 506, 343 (2014); Hurricane et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056314 (2014)] on the National Ignition Facility laser, we have nearly doubled the neutron yield and the hotspot pressure as compared to the implosions reported upon last year. The implosion velocity has been increased using a combination of the laser (higher power and energy), the hohlraum (depleted uranium wall material with higher opacity and lower specific heat than gold hohlraums), and the capsule (thinner capsules with less mass). We find that the neutron yield from these experiments scales systematically with a velocity-like parameter of the square root of the laser energy divided by the ablator mass. By connecting this parameter with the inferred implosion velocity ( v), we find that for shots with primary yield >1 × 1015 neutrons, the total yield ∼ v9.4. This incre...

Magnetic-field generation from the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability was predicted more than 30 years ago, though experimental measurements of this phenomenon have only occurred in the past few years. These pioneering observations demonstrated that collisional effects are important to B-field evolution. To produce fields of a measurable strength, high-intensity lasers irradiate solid targets to generate the nonaligned temperature and density gradients required for B-field generation. The ablation process naturally generates an unstable system where RT-induced magnetic fields form. Field strengths inferred from monoenergetic-proton radiographs indicate that in the ablation region diffusive effects caused by finite plasma resistivity are not negligible. Results from the first proof-of-existence experiments are reviewed and the role of collisional effects on B-field evolution is discussed in detail.

Electromagnetic (E/B) fields generated by the interaction with plasmas of long-pulse, low-intensity laser beams relevant to inertial confinement fusion have been measured for the first time using novel monoenergetic proton radiography methods. High-resolution, time-gated radiography images of a plastic foil driven by a 10(14) W/cm(2) laser implied B fields of approximately 0.5 MG and E fields of approximately 1.5 x 10(8) V/m. Simulations of these experiments with LASNEX+LSP have been performed and are in overall (though not exact) agreement with the data both for field strengths and for spatial distributions; this is the first direct experimental test of the laser-generated B-field package in LASNEX. The experiments also demonstrated that laser phase plates substantially reduce medium-scale chaotic field structure.

Summary form only given, as follows. Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) offers the potential for high gain and is a leading candidate for an inertial fusion-energy power plant. Laser and target nonuniformities can seed hydrodynamic instabilities during the implosion that, in turn, can compromise target performance. This is the primary target physics issue for direct-drive ICF. Several methods have been devised to control these seeds and their subsequent growth, including laser beam smoothing, advanced pulse shaping, target design, etc. LLE's baseline direct-drive ignition design for the National Ignition Facility (presently under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) is composed of a thin plastic shell enclosing a thick deuterium-tritium layer. It provides a gain of 45 in spherically symmetric calculations (30 in two-dimensional simulations which include the effects of laser and target nonuniformities). Recent improvements to the ignition target design include the addition of a picket to the beginning of the laser pulse shape that reduces both the seeds and growth rate of the hydrodynamic instabilities.

The mixing of cold, high-density shell plasma with the low-density, hot spot plasma by the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in inertial confinement fusion is experimentally shown to correlate with the calculated perturbation feedthrough from the ablation surface to the inner shell surface. A fourfold decrease in the density of shell material in the mix region of direct drive implosions of gas filled spherical plastic shells having predicted convergence ratios approximately 15 was observed when laser imprint levels were reduced and the initial shell was thicker, corresponding to a reduction in the feedthrough rms level by a factor of 6. Shell mix is also shown to limit the spherical compression of the implosion.

Fuel-shell mix and implosion performance are studied for many capsule types in direct-drive experiments at OMEGA. The amount of mixing and the size of the mix region are inferred from charged-particle spectrometry data and confirmed with an experimentally constrained model. Measured yields and convergence ratios CR fall short of one-dimensional predictions, especially for low capsule fill pressures. CR is approximately 11 for pressures from 3 to 15 atm, in contrast to predictions of approximately 25 for 3 atm and approximately 12 for 15 atm. The performance shortfalls are likely to be caused by fuel-shell mix.

A wide variety of diagnostics have been deployed to study direct-drive spherical implosions of gas-filled, plastic shells on the 60-beam OMEGA laser system at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Neutron detectors using plastic scintillators measure primary yield, ion temperature, secondary neutron yield, and burn history. Charged- particle detectors record, on CR-39 samples, the secondary protons in pure D2 implosions and elastically scattered protons, deuterons, and tritons in DT implosions to measure the shell and fuel areal densities. Primary D3He protons from plastic shells with a CD layer at the shell-gas interface and a 3He fill provide a significant signal only if the shell and fuel regions are mixed. Shells with an Ar-doped fill are used to infer the emissivity- averaged core electron temperatures and densities from the measured time-dependent Ar K-shell spectra. The level of nonuniformity in the shell areal density at stagnation is measured using gated x-ray images of Ti-doped shells.

In inertial confinement fusion (ICF), a high temperature and high density plasma is produced by the spherical implosion of a small capsule1. A spherical target capsule is irradiated uniformly by a laser beam (direct irradiation) or x-rays from a high Z enclosure (hohlraum) that is irradiated by laser or ion beams (indirect irradiation). Then high- pressure ablation of the surface causes the fuel to be accelerated inward. Thermonuclear fusion reactions begin in the center region of the capsule as it is heated to sufficient temperature (10 keV) by the converging shocks (hot spot formation). During the stagnation of the imploded shell, the fuel in the shell region is compressed to high density (∼103 times solid density in fuel region). When these conditions are established, energy released by the initial nuclear reactions in center “hot-spot” region can heat up the cold “fuel” region and cause ignition.

A direct experimental comparison of rugby-shaped and cylindrical shaped gas-filled hohlraums on the Omega laser facility demonstrates that higher coupling and minimal backscatter can be achieved in the rugby geometry, leading to significantly enhanced implosion performance. A nearly 50% increase of x-ray drive is associated with earlier bangtime and increase of neutron production. The observed drive enhancement from rugby geometry in this study is almost twice stronger than in previously published results.

Hydrodynamic instability growth and its effects on implosion performance were studied at the National Ignition Facility [G. H. Miller, E. I. Moses, and C. R. Wuest, Opt. Eng. 443, 2841 (2004)]. Implosion performance and mix have been measured at peak compression using plastic shells filled with tritium gas and containing embedded localized carbon-deuterium diagnostic layers in various locations in the ablator. Neutron yield and ion temperature of the deuterium-tritium fusion reactions were used as a measure of shell-gas mix, while neutron yield of the tritium-tritium fusion reaction was used as a measure of implosion performance. The results have indicated that the low-mode hydrodynamic instabilities due to surface roughness were the primary culprits for yield degradation, with atomic ablator-gas mix playing a secondary role. In addition, spherical shells with pre-imposed 2D modulations were used to measure instability growth in the acceleration phase of the implosions. The capsules were imploded using ig...

The “High-Foot” platform manipulates the laser pulse-shape coming from the National Ignition Facility laser to create an indirect drive 3-shock implosion that is significantly more robust against instability growth involving the ablator and also modestly reduces implosion convergence ratio. This strategy gives up on theoretical high-gain in an inertial confinement fusion implosion in order to obtain better control of the implosion and bring experimental performance in-line with calculated performance, yet keeps the absolute capsule performance relatively high. In this paper, we will cover the various experimental and theoretical motivations for the high-foot drive as well as cover the experimental results that have come out of the high-foot experimental campaign. At the time of this writing, the high-foot implosion has demonstrated record total deuterium-tritium yields (9.3×1015) with low levels of inferred mix, excellent agreement with implosion simulations, fuel energy gains exceeding unity, and evidence for the “bootstrapping” associated with alpha-particle self-heating.

Reaching ignition in direct-drive (DD) inertial confinement fusion implosions requires achieving central pressures in excess of 100 Gbar. The OMEGA laser system [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] is used to study the physics of implosions that are hydrodynamically equivalent to the ignition designs on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [J. A. Paisner et al., Laser Focus World 30, 75 (1994)]. It is shown that the highest hot-spot pressures (up to 40 Gbar) are achieved in target designs with a fuel adiabat of α ≃ 4, an implosion velocity of 3.8 × 107 cm/s, and a laser intensity of ∼1015 W/cm2. These moderate-adiabat implosions are well understood using two-dimensional hydrocode simulations. The performance of lower-adiabat implosions is significantly degraded relative to code predictions, a common feature between DD implosions on OMEGA and indirect-drive cryogenic implosions on the NIF. Simplified theoretical models are developed to gain physical understanding of the implosion dynamics that dictate the target performance. These models indicate that degradations in the shell density and integrity (caused by hydrodynamic instabilities during the target acceleration) coupled with hydrodynamics at stagnation are the main failure mechanisms in low-adiabat designs. To demonstrate ignition hydrodynamic equivalence in cryogenic implosions on OMEGA, the target-design robustness to hydrodynamic instability growth must be improved by reducing laser-coupling losses caused by cross beam energy transfer.

Shock-driven implosions of thin-shell capsules, or “exploding pushers,” generate low-density, high-temperature plasmas in which hydrodynamic instability growth is negligible and kinetic effects can play an important role. Data from implosions of thin deuterated-plastic shells with hydroequivalent D3He gas fills ranging from pure deuterium to pure 3He [H. G. Rinderknecht et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 135001 (2014)] were obtained to evaluate non-hydrodynamic fuel-shell mix mechanisms. Simulations of the experiments including reduced ion kinetic models support ion diffusion as an explanation for these data. Several additional kinetic mechanisms are investigated and compared to the data to determine which are important in the experiments. Shock acceleration of shell deuterons is estimated to introduce mix less than or comparable to the amount required to explain the data. Beam-target mechanisms are found to produce yields at most an order of magnitude less than the observations.

Direct-drive laser-fusion ignition experiments rely on detailed understanding and control of irradiation uniformity, the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and target fabrication. LLE is investigating various theoretical aspects of a direct-drive NIF ignition target based on an 'all-DT' design: a spherical target of approximately 3.5-mm diameter, 1 to 2 micrometers of CH wall thickness, and an approximately 350-micrometers DT-ice layer near the triple point of DT. OMEGA experiments are designed to address the critical issues related to direct-drive laser fusion and to provide the necessary data to validate the predictive capability of LLE computer codes. The cryogenic targets planned for OMEGA are hydrodynamically equivalent to those planned for the NIF. The current experimental studies on OMEGA address all of the essential components of direct- drive laser fusion: irradiation uniformity and laser imprinting, Rayleigh-Taylor growth and saturation, compressed core performance and shell-fuel mixing, laser- plasma interactions and their effect on target performance, and cryogenic target fabrication and handling.

A flexible direct-drive target platform is used to implode cryogenic deuterium–tritium (DT) capsules on the OMEGA laser [Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. The goal of these experiments is to demonstrate ignition hydrodynamically equivalent performance where the laser drive intensity, the implosion velocity, the fuel adiabat, and the in-flight aspect ratio (IFAR) are the same as those for a 1.5-MJ target [Goncharov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 165001 (2010)] designed to ignite on the National Ignition Facility [Hogan et al., Nucl. Fusion 41, 567 (2001)]. The results from a series of 29 cryogenic DT implosions are presented. The implosions were designed to span a broad region of design space to study target performance as a function of shell stability (adiabat) and implosion velocity. Ablation-front perturbation growth appears to limit target performance at high implosion velocities. Target outer-surface defects associated with contaminant gases in the DT fuel are identified as the dominant perturbation source at the ablation surface; performance degradation is confirmed by 2D hydrodynamic simulations that include these defects. A trend in the value of the Lawson criterion [Betti et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 058102 (2010)] for each of the implosions in adiabat–IFAR space suggests the existence of a stability boundary that leads to ablator mixing into the hot spot for the most ignition-equivalent designs.

Filamentary electromagnetic fields previously observed in the coronae of laser-driven spherical targets [F. H. Seguin et al., Phys. Plasma. 19, 012701 (2012)] have been further investigated in laser-irradiated plastic foils. Face-on proton-radiography provides an axial view of these filaments and shows coherent cellular structure regardless of initial foil-surface conditions. The observed cellular fields are shown to have an approximately constant scale size of ∼210 μm throughout the plasma evolution. A discussion of possible field-generation mechanisms is provided and it is demonstrated that the likely source of the cellular field structure is the magnetothermal instability. Using predicted temperature and density profiles, the fastest growing modes of this instability were found to be slowly varying in time and consistent with the observed cellular size.

Polar-drive (PD) experiments on the OMEGA [Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] laser are described. Continuous pulse shapes, where a low-power foot is followed by a rise to the main pulse, and triple-picket pulse shapes, where three pickets precede the main pulse, are used to irradiate warm plastic shell capsules. Both of these pulse shapes set the target on a low, ignition-relevant adiabat of ∼3.5. The areal density is modeled very well in these implosions indicating that shock timing is well modeled in PD geometry. It is shown that the symmetry can be predictably varied by changing the beam pointings. Symmetry is also well reproduced across the two pulse shapes. Limitations of OMEGA experiments are discussed. Preliminary designs for PD implosion experiments on the NIF, with the goal of addressing ignition-relevant issues for PD, including symmetry are presented.

First results from the analysis of neutron image data collected on implosions of cryogenically layered deuterium-tritium capsules during the 2011-2012 National Ignition Campaign are reported. The data span a variety of experimental designs aimed at increasing the stagnation pressure of the central hotspot and areal density of the surrounding fuel assembly. Images of neutrons produced by deuterium–tritium fusion reactions in the hotspot are presented, as well as images of neutrons that scatter in the surrounding dense fuel assembly. The image data are compared with 1D and 2D model predictions, and consistency checked using other diagnostic data. The results indicate that the size of the fusing hotspot is consistent with the model predictions, as well as other imaging data, while the overall size of the fuel assembly, inferred from the scattered neutron images, is systematically smaller than models' prediction. Preliminary studies indicate these differences are consistent with a significant fraction (20%–25%) of the initial deuterium-tritium fuel mass outside the compact fuel assembly, due either to low mode mass asymmetry or high mode 3D mix effects at the ablator-ice interface.

For the first time, quantitative measurements of collective fuel velocities in Inertial Confinement Fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility are reported. Velocities along the line-of-sight (LOS) of the Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS), positioned close to the equator (73°–324°), were inferred from the measured mean energy of the deuterium-tritium (DT)-primary neutron peak. Substantial mean energy shifts up to 113 ± 16 keV were observed in DT gas-filled exploding-pusher implosions, driven in a polar-direct drive configuration, which corresponds to bulk fuel velocities up to 210 ± 30 km/s. In contrast, only marginal bulk fuel velocities along the MRS LOS were observed in cryogenically layered DT implosions. Integrated analysis of data from a large number of cryogenically layered implosions has recently identified a deficit in achieved hot-spot energy of ∼3 kJ for these implosions [C. Cerjan et al., Phys. Plasmas (2013)]. One hypothesis that could explain this missing energy is a collective, directional fuel velocity of ∼190 km/s. As only marginal bulk fuel velocities are observed in the MRS data, this might indicate that turbulent or radial flows would be a likely explanation for the missing energy. However, a directional velocity close to perpendicular to the MRS LOS cannot be ruled out.

Charging of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets generates a potential well that traps energetic electrons within the target. Trapped electrons can preheat the fuel, raise the adiabat, degrade compression and perhaps have an effect on achieving the high areal densities (ρR) required for ignition and gain. The decay time of this potential is thus an important parameter for any calculations of preheat. A nonlinear model of electrical discharging of ICF capsules has been developed and is presented here. The empirical model, which captures the essential dynamics of the target voltage decay, incorporates previous charged-particle spectroscopic and radiographic measurements of the fields surrounding the target. On the basis of this model, it is shown that the decay time is weakly dependent on the initial voltage of the target. In addition, it is shown that currents through the target support fiber aid target discharging. Implications of these findings for inertial fusion energy targets without support fibers are discussed.

High-convergence polar-drive experiments are being conducted on OMEGA [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commum. 133, 495 (1997)] using triple-picket laser pulses. The goal of OMEGA experiments is to validate modeling of oblique laser deposition, heat conduction in the presence of nonradial thermal gradients in the corona, and implosion energetics in the presence of laser–plasma interactions such as crossed-beam energy transfer. Simulated shock velocities near the equator, where the beams are obliquely incident, are within 5% of experimentally inferred values in warm plastic shells, well within the required accuracy for ignition. High, near-one-dimensional areal density is obtained in warm-plastic-shell implosions. Simulated backlit images of the compressing core are in good agreement with measured images. Outstanding questions that will be addressed in the future relate to the role of cross-beam transfer in polar drive irradiation and increasing the energy coupled into the target by decreasing beam obliquity.

The overall goal of the indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (1) tuning campaigns (2 )i s to maximize the probability of ignition by experimentally correcting for likely residual uncertainties in the implosion and hohlraum physics (3) used in our radiation-hydrodynamic computational models, and by checking for and resolving unexpected shot-to-shot variability in performance (4). This has been started successfully using a variety of surrogate capsules that set key laser, hohlraum and capsule parameters to maximize ignition capsule implosion velocity, while minimizing fuel adiabat, core shape asymmetry and ablator-fuel mix.

The measurement of the absolute neutron yield produced in inertial confinement fusion target experiments conducted on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is essential in benchmarking progress towards the goal of achieving ignition on this facility. This paper describes three independent diagnostic techniques that have been developed to make accurate and precise DT neutron yield measurements on the NIF.

Measurements of energetic protons from cone-in-shell fast-igniton implosions at Omega have been conducted. In these experiments, charged-particle spectrometers were used to measure a significant population (>1013) of energetic protons (7.5 MeV max.), indicating the presence of strong electric fields. These energetic protons, observed in directions both transverse and forward relative to the direction of the short-pulse laser beam, have been used to study aspects of coupling efficiency of the petawatt fast-ignitior beam. Approximately 5% of the laser energy coupled to hot electrons was lost to fast ions. Forward going protons were less energetic and showed no dependence on laser intensity or whether the cone tip was intact when the short-pulse laser was fired. Maximum energies of protons emitted transverse to the cone-in-shell target scale with incident on-target laser intensity (2–6×1018W-cm−2), as described by the ponderomotive scaling (∝I1/2). It is shown that these protons are accelerated from the enti...

Spherical shock-ignition experiments on OMEGA used a novel beam configuration that separates low-intensity compression beams and high-intensity spike beams. Significant improvements in the performance of plastic-shell, D2 implosions were observed with repointed beams. The analysis of the coupling of the high-intensity spike beam energy into the imploding capsule indicates that absorbed hot-electron energy contributes to the coupling. The backscattering of laser energy was measured to reach up to 36% at single-beam intensities of ∼8 × 1015 W/cm2. Hard x-ray measurements revealed a relatively low hot-electron temperature of ∼30 keV independent of intensity and timing. At the highest intensity, stimulated Brillouin scattering occurs near and above the quarter-critical density and the two-plasmon-decay instability is suppressed.

A magnetic recoil spectrometer (MRS) has been installed and extensively used on OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) for measurements of the absolute neutron spectrum from inertial confinement fusion implosions. From the neutron spectrum measured with the MRS, many critical implosion parameters are determined including the primary DT neutron yield, the ion temperature, and the down-scattered neutron yield. As the MRS detection efficiency is determined from first principles, the absolute DT neutron yield is obtained without cross-calibration to other techniques. The MRS primary DT neutron measurements at OMEGA and the NIF are shown to be in excellent agreement with previously established yield diagnostics on OMEGA, and with the newly commissioned nuclear activation diagnostics on the NIF.

A DT neutron yield diagnostic based on the reactions, (63)Cu(n,2n)(62)Cu(β(+)) and (65)Cu(n,2n)( 64) Cu(β(+)), has been fielded at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The induced copper activity is measured using a NaI γ-γ coincidence system. Uncertainties in the 14-MeV DT yield measurements are on the order of 7% to 8%. In addition to measuring yield, the ratio of activities induced in two, well-separated copper samples are used to measure the relative anisotropy of the fuel ρR to uncertainties as low as 5%.

Neutron yields are measured at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) by an extensive suite of neutron activation diagnostics. Neutrons interact with materials whose reaction cross sections threshold just below the fusion neutron production energy, providing an accurate measure of primary unscattered neutrons without contribution from lower-energy scattered neutrons. Indium samples are mounted on diagnostic instrument manipulators in the NIF target chamber, 25-50 cm from the source, to measure 2.45 MeV deuterium-deuterium fusion neutrons through the (115)In(n,n')(115 m) In reaction. Outside the chamber, zirconium and copper are used to measure 14 MeV deuterium-tritium fusion neutrons via (90)Zr(n,2n), (63)Cu(n,2n), and (65)Cu(n,2n) reactions. An array of 16 zirconium samples are located on port covers around the chamber to measure relative yield anisotropies, providing a global map of fuel areal density variation. Neutron yields are routinely measured with activation to an accuracy of 7% and are in excellent agreement both with each other and with neutron time-of-flight and magnetic recoil spectrometer measurements. Relative areal density anisotropies can be measured to a precision of less than 3%. These measurements reveal apparent bulk fuel velocities as high as 200 km/s in addition to large areal density variations between the pole and equator of the compressed fuel.