National Ignition Campaign Hohlraum energetics
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551-0808 (United States)
The first series of experiments of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [E. I. Moses et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)] tested ignition Hohlraum 'energetics', a term described by four broad goals: (1) measurement of laser absorption by the Hohlraum; (2) measurement of the x-ray radiation flux (T{sub RAD}{sup 4}) on the surrogate ignition capsule; (3) quantitative understanding of the laser absorption and resultant x-ray flux; and (4) determining whether initial Hohlraum performance is consistent with requirements for ignition. This paper summarizes the status of NIF Hohlraum energetics experiments. The Hohlraum targets and experimental design are described, as well as the results of the initial experiments. The data demonstrate low backscattered energy (<10%) for Hohlraums filled with helium gas. A discussion of our current understanding of NIF Hohlraum x-ray drive follows, including an overview of the computational tools, i.e., radiation-hydrodynamics codes that have been used to design the Hohlraums. The performance of the codes is compared to x-ray drive and capsule implosion data from the first NIF experiments. These results bode well for future NIF ignition Hohlraum experiments.
- OSTI ID:
- 21371209
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 17; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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