A Target Plane Imager For Inertial Confinement Fusion

The Nova laser, completed in December 1984 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is being used to conduct inertial confinement fusion experiments. It is capable of focusing more than 100 kJ of energy on small fusion targets. This paper discusses an optical system called the target plane imager that is used during the beam alignment phase of these experiments. The TPI includes a three meter long periscope with a wide field of view, F/3 objective. The telescope relays images of the target focal plane to viewing optics and a video sensor located outside the target chamber. Operation of the system is possible at three wavelengths: 1.05..mu.., 0.527..mu.., and 0.351..mu... These are the three wavelengths at which the ten Nova laser beams can irradiate targets. Both nearfield and farfield images of the ten beams can be viewed with the TPI. This instrument is used to properly align the laser to the target before each target irradiation.