Isolating and quantifying cross-beam energy transfer in direct-drive implosions on OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4946022· OSTI ID:22600245

Cao, D.; Michel, D. T.; Hohenberger, M.; Edgell, D. H.; Epstein, R.; Goncharov, V. N.; Hu, S. X.; Igumenshchev, I. V.; Marozas, J. A.; Maximov, A. V.; Myatt, J. F.; Radha, P. B.; Regan, S. P.; Sangster, T. C.; Froula, D. H. ^[1]

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1. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14636 (United States)

The angularly resolved mass ablation rates and ablation-front trajectories for Si-coated CH targets were measured in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments to quantify cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) while constraining the hydrodynamic coupling. A polar-direct-drive laser configuration, where the equatorial laser beams were dropped and the polar beams were repointed from a symmetric direct-drive configuration, was used to limit CBET at the pole while allowing it to persist at the equator. The combination of low- and high-CBET conditions observed in the same implosion allowed for the effects of CBET on the ablation rate and ablation pressure to be determined. Hydrodynamic simulations performed without CBET agreed with the measured ablation rate and ablation-front trajectory at the pole of the target, confirming that the CBET effects on the pole are small. The simulated mass ablation rates and ablation-front trajectories were in excellent agreement with the measurements at all angles when a CBET model based on Randall's equations [C. J. Randall et al., Phys. Fluids 24, 1474 (1981)] was included into the simulations with a multiplier on the CBET gain factor. These measurements were performed on OMEGA and at the National Ignition Facility to access a wide range of plasma conditions, laser intensities, and laser beam geometries. The presence of the CBET gain multiplier required to match the data in all of the configurations tested suggests that additional physics effects, such as intensity variations caused by diffraction, polarization effects, or shortcomings of extending the 1-D Randall model to 3-D, should be explored to explain the differences in observed and predicted drive.

• OSTI ID: 22600245
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ABLATION
BEAMS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONFIGURATION
DIFFRACTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUIDS
GAIN
GEOMETRY
HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL
IMPLOSIONS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
LASERS
PLASMA
POLARIZATION
SYMMETRY
THERMONUCLEAR IGNITION
TRAJECTORIES
US NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY