Three-Dimensional Diagnostics for Inertial Confinement Fusion Research on OMEGA

Sean Regan, Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE)

Hopeman 224

Laser-direct-drive inertial confinement fusion involves the uniform laser irradiation of a plastic spherical shell target containing a thin layer of cryogenic, thermonuclear fuel [i.e., deuterium (D) and tritium (T)] with symmetrically arranged high-intensity overlapping beams to implode the target and form a central hot-spot fusion plasma.  Three-dimensional diagnostics are essential to study multidimensional effects on hot-spot formation caused by target and laser low-mode perturbations of DT cryogenic implosions on the 60-beam, 30-kJ, 351‑nm OMEGA laser.  Nonuniformities in the imploding shell are characterized until the end of the acceleration phase using a four-axis, gated x-ray imaging system. Measured implosion asymmetries during the acceleration phase are related to the stagnation phase. Three-dimensional nuclear and x-ray diagnostics are being developed to infer hot-spot flow velocity, spatial variations in the compressed areal density, electron and ion temperatures, and the shape of the hot spot.  Progress in the diagnosis of low-mode multidimensional effects on hot-spot formation of OMEGA DT cryogenic implosions will be reported. 

This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0003856, the University of Rochester, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

1. P. Regan ^1,2, V. N. Goncharov ^1,2, T. C. Sangster ¹, R. Betti ^1,2,3, E. M. Campbell ¹, K. A. Bauer ¹, M. J. Bonino ¹, D. Cao ¹, G. W. Collins ^1,2,3, T. J. B. Collins ¹, R. S. Craxton ¹, D. H. Edgell ¹, R. Epstein ¹, C. J. Forrest ¹, J. A. Frenje ⁴, D. H. Froula ^1,3, M. Gatu Johnson ⁴, V. Yu. Glebov ¹, V. Gopalaswamy ^1,2, D. R. Harding ¹, S. X. Hu ¹, I. V. Igumenshchev ¹, S. T. Ivancic ¹, D. W. Jacobs-Perkins ¹, R. T. Janezic ¹, T. J. Kessler ¹, J. P. Knauer ¹, T. Z. Kosc ¹, J. Kwiatkowski ¹, O. M. Mannion ^1,3, J. A. Marozas, ¹ F. J. Marshall, ¹ P. W. McKenty, ¹ Z. Mohamed ¹, S. F. B. Morse ¹, P. M. Nilson ¹, J. P. Palastro ¹, D. Patel ^1,2, J. L. Peebles ¹, R. D. Petrasso ⁴, P. B. Radha ¹, H. G. Rinderknecht ¹, M. J. Rosenberg ¹, S. Sampat ¹, W. Seka ¹, R. C. Shah¹, J. R. Rygg ^1,2, W. T. Shmayda ¹, M. J. Shoup III ¹, A. Shvydky ¹, A. A. Solodov ¹, C. Sorce ¹, C. Stoeckl ¹, W. Theobald ^1,2, D. Turnbull ¹, J. Ulreich ¹, M. D. Wittman ¹, and K. M. Woo ¹

1: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, USA

2: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, USA

3: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, USA

4: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA