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Title: Optical resonant ultrasound spectroscopy for spherical target characterization

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1020971
 [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory

A new non-contact resonant ultrasound spectroscopic technique is employed to determine the response characteristics of spherical fusion targets, with particular emphasis on both the displacement sensitivity and frequency response of the technique. The optical experimental method is based on photorefractive optical lock-in detection scheme with narrow bandwidth amplification to measure phase variations in light scattered from optically rough, continuously vibrating surfaces with very high, linear sensitivity and a noise level on the order of 10.6 nanometers RMS. This high sensitivity is needed to determine the vibrational modes of the gas inside an spherical target separately from the elastic modes of the containment shell. These measurements can be used to calculate the pressure and density of the internal gas. This approach is also used to discriminate between nearly-degenerate resonant modes characteristic of the frequency spectrum when the target fabrication is inadequate (non-uniform shell thickness, misalignment of hemispheres) or when the Deuteriumrrritium solid fuel inside the target is not symmetrically distributed at cryogenic temperatures. Asymmetries in the fuel layering and geometric perturbations disturb the target implosion process creating deleterious effects in fusion energy generation. The technique is applied to determine the modal characteristics of a target sphere with known response from 100 KHz to 450 KHz. The results demonstrate the unique capabilities of the optical lock-in detection method to measure very small resonant ultrasonic signals.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1020971
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-10-04252; LA-UR-10-4252; TRN: US201116%%649
Resource Relation:
Conference: 2nd International symposium on laser ultrasonics ; July 5, 2010 ; Talence, France
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English