Development of long-lifetime, low-contamination beam dumps for NIF
The laser architecture of the NIF beamlines requires small-area beam dumps to safely absorb back reflections from the output and leakage through the PEPC switch. The problems presented by these beam dumps are that fluences they must absorb are very large, beyond the damage threshold of any material, and ablation of beam dump materials potentially contaminates adjacent optical components. Full scale tests have demonstrated that a stainless steel beam dump will survive fluence levels and energies as high as 820 j/CM{sup 2} and 2.5 kJ, respectively. Small scale tests with tungsten, tantalum, and stainless steel have demonstrated erosion rates less than about 0.5 {mu}m/shot, with stainless steel having the smallest rate. They also suggest that increased angles of incidence ({ge}60{degree}) will greatly reduce the material ablated directly back along the beam path.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 462930
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-124863; CONF-9610225-15; ON: DE97051644; TRN: 97:010091
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. annual solid state lasers for applications to inertial confinement fusion (ICF), Paris (France), 22-25 Oct 1996; Other Information: PBD: 9 Dec 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Management of unconverted light for the National Ignition Facility target chamber
Inertial Confinement Fusion Quarterly Report January-March 1999, Volume 9, Number 2