Search

Measurements of x-ray--driven implosions with charged particles have resulted in the quantitative characterization of critical aspects of indirect-drive inertial fusion. Three types of spontaneous electric fields differing in strength by two orders of magnitude, the largest being nearly one-tenth of the Bohr field, were discovered with time-gated proton radiographic imaging and spectrally resolved proton self-emission. The views of the spatial structure and temporal evolution of both the laser drive in a hohlraum and implosion properties provide essential insight into, and modeling validation of, x-ray--driven implosions. 10.1126/science.1185747

We have derived a 3-dimensional synthetic model for NIF implosion conditions, by predicting and optimizing fits to a broad set of x-ray and nuclear diagnostics obtained on each shot. By matching x-ray images, burn width, neutron time-of-flight ion temperature, yield, and fuel ρr, we obtain nearly unique constraints on conditions in the hotspot and fuel in a model that is entirely consistent with the observables. This model allows us to determine hotspot density, pressure, areal density (ρr), total energy, and other ignition-relevant parameters not available from any single diagnostic. This article describes the model and its application to National Ignition Facility (NIF) tritium–hydrogen–deuterium (THD) and DT implosion data, and provides an explanation for the large yield and ρr degradation compared to numerical code predictions.

Indirectly driven Symcap capsules are used at the NIF to obtain information about ignition capsule implosion performance, in particular shape. Symcaps replace the cryogenic fuel layer with an equivalent ablator mass and can be similarly diagnosed. Symcaps are good symmetry surrogates to an ignition capsule after the peak of the drive, radiation-hydrodynamics simulations predict that doping of the symcaps vary the behavior of the implosion. We compare the equatorial shapes of a symcap doped with Si or Ge, as well as examine the reproducibility of the shape measurement using two symcaps with the same hohlraum and laser conditions.

An experimental campaign to tune the initial shock compression sequence of capsule implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) was initiated in late 2010. The experiments use a NIF ignition-scale hohlraum and capsule that employs a re-entrant cone to provide optical access to the shocks as they propagate in the liquid deuterium-filled capsule interior. The strength and timing of the shock sequence is diagnosed with velocity interferometry that provides target performance data used to set the pulse shape for ignition capsule implosions that follow. From the start, these measurements yielded significant new information on target performance, leading to improvements in the target design. We describe the results and interpretation of the initial tuning experiments.

Experiments conducted at the National Ignition Facility using shaped laser pulses with more than 1 MJ of energy have demonstrated the ability to control the implosion symmetry under ignition conditions. To achieve thermonuclear ignition, the low mode asymmetries must be small to minimize the size of the hotspot. The symmetry tuning experiments use symmetry capsules, “symcaps”, which replace the DT fuel with an equivalent mass of CH to emulate the hydrodynamic behavior of an ignition capsule. The x-ray self-emission signature from gas inside the capsule during the peak compression correlates with the surrounding hotspot shape. By tuning the shape of the self-emission, the capsule implosion symmetry can be made to be “round.” In the experimental results presented here, we utilized crossbeam energy transfer [S. H. Glenzer, et al., Science 327, 1228 (2010)] to change the ratio of the inner to outer cone power inside the hohlraum targets on the NIF. Variations in the ratio of the inner cone to outer cone power affect the radiation pattern incident on the capsule modifying the implosion symmetry.

The particle-in-cell hybrid code LSP was used to stimulate the proton generation from the interaction of an intense, short pulse laser with a foil target. The result suggests that the efficiency for proton production depends strongly on the ionization and mass of the nonhydrogenic component as well as on the relative hydrogen density fraction.

Describes the measurement of the Rayleigh-Taylor evolution of three-dimensional broadband planar-target perturbations seeded by laser nonuniformities using x-ray radiography. Haan's model for nonlinear saturation of broadband nonuniformities; Last-time evolution of broadband spectra.