Fabrication and testing of gas-filled targets for large-scale plasma experiments on nova
The proposed next-generation ICF facility, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is designed to produce energy gain from x-ray heated {open_quotes}indirect-drive{close_quotes} fuel capsules. For indirect-drive targets, laser light heats the inside of the Au hohlraum wall and produces x rays which in turn heat and implode the capsule to produce fusion conditions in the fuel. Unlike Nova targets, in NIF-scale targets laser light will propagate through several millimeters of gas, producing a plasma, before impinging upon the Au hohlraum wall. The purpose of the gas-produced plasma is to provide sufficient pressure to keep the radiating Au surface from expanding excessively into the hohlraum cavity. Excessive expansion of the Au wall interacts with the laser pulse and degrades the drive symmetry of the capsule implosion. The authors have begun an experimental campaign on the Nova laser to study the effect of hohlraum gas on both laser-plasma interaction and implosion symmetry. In their current NIF target design, the calculated plasma electron temperature is T{sub e} {approx} 3 keV and the electron density is N{sub e} {approx} 10{sup 21}cm{sup {minus}3}.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 376950
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-LR--105820-95; ON: DE96013181
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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