Laser propagation measurements in long-scale-length underdense plasmas relevant to magnetized liner inertial fusion

Harvey-Thompson, A. J.; Sefkow, A. B.; Wei, M. S.; Nagayama, T.; Campbell, E. M.; Blue, B. E.; Heeter, R. F.; Koning, J. M.; Peterson, K. J.; Schmitt, A.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.94.051201

Laser propagation measurements in long-scale-length underdense plasmas relevant to magnetized liner inertial fusion

Journal Article · Wed Nov 02 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physical Review E

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.94.051201· OSTI ID:1338676

Harvey-Thompson, A. J. ^[1]; Sefkow, A. B. ^[1]; Wei, M. S. ^[2]; Nagayama, T. ^[1]; Campbell, E. M. ^[3]; Blue, B. E. ^[2]; Heeter, R. F. ^[4]; Koning, J. M. ^[4]; Peterson, K. J. ^[1]; Schmitt, A. ^[5]

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States). Lab. for Laser Energetics
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Naval Research Lab. (NRL), Washington, DC (United States)

Here, we report experimental results and simulations showing efficient laser energy coupling into plasmas at conditions relevant to the magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) concept. In MagLIF, to limit convergence and increase the hydrodynamic stability of the implosion, the fuel must be efficiently preheated. To determine the efficiency and physics of preheating by a laser, an Ar plasma with n e / n_{c r i t} ~ 0.04 is irradiated by a multi-ns, multi-kJ, 0.35-μm, phase-plate-smoothed laser at spot-averaged intensities ranging from 1.0 × 10 ¹⁴ to 2.5 × 10 ¹⁴ W / c m ² and pulse widths from 2 to 10 ns. Time-resolved x-ray images of the laser-heated plasma are compared to two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that show agreement with the propagating emission front, a comparison that constrains laser energy deposition to the plasma. The experiments show that long-pulse, modest-intensity ( I = 1.5 × 10 ¹⁴ W / c m ² ) beams can efficiently couple energy ( ~ 82 % of the incident energy) to MagLIF-relevant long-length (9.5 mm) underdense plasmas. The heating efficiency we demonstrate is significantly higher than it was thought to have been achieved in early integrated MagLIF experiments [A. B. Sefkow et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 072711 (2014)].

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000; AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1338676

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1330738
OSTI ID: 1438716

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL--740586; SAND2016--11073J; 648803

Journal Information:: Physical Review E, Journal Name: Physical Review E Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 94; ISSN PLEEE8; ISSN 2470-0045

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Laser entrance window transmission and reflection measurements for preheating in magnetized liner inertial fusion Davies, J. R.; Bahr, R. E.; Barnak, D. H. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5030107	journal	June 2018
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Magnetised thermal self-focusing and filamentation of long-pulse lasers in plasmas relevant to magnetised ICF experiments Watkins, H. C.; Kingham, R. J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5049229	journal	September 2018
Diagnosing and mitigating laser preheat induced mix in MagLIF Harvey-Thompson, A. J.; Weis, M. R.; Harding, E. C. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5050931	journal	November 2018
Enhancing performance of magnetized liner inertial fusion at the Z facility Slutz, S. A.; Gomez, M. R.; Hansen, S. B. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5054317	journal	November 2018

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