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Title: Damage mechanisms avoided or managed for NIF large optics

Journal Article · · Fusion Science and Technology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.13182/FST15-139· OSTI ID:1252629
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  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
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After every other failure mode has been considered, in the end, the high-performance limit of all lasers is set by optical damage. The demands of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) pushed lasers designed as ICF drivers into this limit from their very earliest days. The first ICF lasers were small, and their pulses were short. Their goal was to provide as much power to the target as possible. Typically, they faced damage due to high intensity on their optics. As requests for higher laser energy, longer pulse lengths, and better symmetry appeared, new kinds of damage also emerged, some of them anticipated and others unexpected. This paper will discuss the various types of damage to large optics that had to be considered, avoided to the extent possible, or otherwise managed as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser was designed, fabricated, and brought into operation. Furthermore, it has been possible for NIF to meet its requirements because of the experience gained in previous ICF systems and because NIF designers have continued to be able to avoid or manage new damage situations as they have appeared.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1252629
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-659336
Journal Information:
Fusion Science and Technology, Vol. 69, Issue 1; ISSN 1536-1055
Publisher:
American Nuclear SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 95 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Cited By (10)

Full-band error control and crack-free surface fabrication techniques for ultra-precision fly cutting of large-aperture KDP crystals journal May 2017
Multi-wavelength growth of nanosecond laser-induced surface damage on fused silica gratings journal January 2018
Effect of annealing on nonlinear optical properties of 70% deuterated DKDP crystals at 355 nm journal January 2018
Effect of non-linear amplification of phase and amplitude modulations on laser-induced damage of thick fused silica optics with large beams at 351 nm journal October 2018
Investigation and modeling of optics damage in high-power laser systems caused by light backscattered in plasma at the target journal January 2019
Implications of laser beam metrology on laser damage temporal scaling law for dielectric materials in the picosecond regime journal July 2019
Progress of indirect drive inertial confinement fusion in the United States journal July 2019
Scalable process for mitigation of laser-damaged potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal optic surfaces with removal of damaged antireflective coating journal January 2017
Study of morphological feature and mechanism of potassium dihydrogen phosphate surface damage under a 351  nm nanosecond laser journal January 2018
Laser-induced damage of fused silica optics at 355 nm due to backward stimulated Brillouin scattering: experimental and theoretical results journal January 2018

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Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ICF lasers
pseudoscopic imaging
parasitic loss mechanisms for lasers
optical damage
filamentation