The National Ignition Facility

Conference · Fri Feb 06 04:00:00 UTC 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1117/12.538462· OSTI ID:15007245

Miller, G H; Moses, E I; Wuest, C R

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a stadium-sized facility containing a 192-beam, 1.8-Megajoule, 500-Terawatt, ultraviolet laser system together with a 10-meter-diameter target chamber and room for 100 diagnostics. NIF is the world's largest and most energetic laser experimental system, providing a scientific center to study inertial confinement fusion and matter at extreme energy densities and pressures. NIF's energetic laser beams will compress fusion targets to conditions required for thermonuclear burn, liberating more energy than required to initiate the fusion reactions. Other NIF experiments will study physical processes at temperatures approaching 10{sup 8} K and 10{sup 11} bar; conditions that exist naturally only in the interior of stars and planets. NIF has completed the first phases of its laser commissioning program. The first four beams of NIF have generated 106 kilojoules in 23-ns pulses of infrared light and over 16 kJ in 3.5-ns pulses at the third harmonic (351 nm). NIF's target experimental systems are being commissioned and experiments have begun. This paper provides a detailed look the NIF laser systems, laser and optical performance, and results from recent laser commissioning shots. We follow this with a discussion of NIF's high-energy-density and inertial fusion experimental capabilities, the first experiments on NIF, and plans for future capabilities of this unique facility.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 15007245
• Report Number(s): UCRL-CONF-154977
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COMMISSIONING
HARMONICS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
LASERS
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY
PERFORMANCE
PLANETS
STARS
TARGET CHAMBERS
TARGETS
US NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY