A pulsed-power implementation of “Laser Gate” for increasing laser energy coupling and fusion yield in magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF)
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Cornell - Imperial College
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) at Sandia National Laboratories involves a laser preheating stage,where a few-ns laser pulse passes through a few-micron-thick plastic window to preheat gaseous fusion fuel contained within the MagLIF target. Interactions with this window reduce heating e ciency and mix window and target materials into the fuel. A recently proposed idea called \Laser Gate" involves removing the window well before the preheating laser is applied. In this article, we introduce experimental proof-of-principle results for a pulsed-power implementation of Laser Gate, where a thin current-carrying wire weakens the perimeter of the window, allowing the fuel pressure to push the window open and away from the preheating laser path. For this e ort, transparent targets were fabricated and a test facility capable of studying this version of Laser Gate was developed. A 12-frame bright- eld laser schlieren/shadowgraphy imaging system captured the window opening dynamics on microsecond timescales. The images exhibit that the window remains largely intact as it opens and detaches from the target. A column of escaping pressurized gas appears to prevent the detached window from inadvertently moving into the preheating laser path.
- Research Organization:
- Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- NA0003764
- OSTI ID:
- 1633986
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1634187
OSTI ID: 1778052
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Journal Name: Review of Scientific Instruments Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 91; ISSN 0034-6748
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English