National Ignition Facility design focuses on optics
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
Sometime in the year 2002, scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) will focus 192 separate high-power ultraviolet laser beams onto a tiny capsule of deuterium and tritium, heating and compressing the material until it ignites and burns with a burst of fusion energy. The mission of NIF, which will contain the largest laser in the world, is to obtain fusion ignition and gain and to use inertial confinement fusion capabilities in nuclear weapons science experiments. The physics data provided by NIF experiments will help scientists ensure nuclear weapons reliability without the need for actual weapons tests; basic sciences such as astrophysics will also benefit. The facility faces stringent weapons-physics user requirements demanding peak pulse powers greater than 750 TW at 0.35 {micro}m (only 500 TW is required for target ignition), pulse durations of 0.1 to 20 ns, beam steering on the order of several degrees, and target isolation from residual 1- and 0.5-{micro}m radiation. Additional requirements include 50% fractional encircled beam energy in a 100-{micro}m-diameter spot, with 95% encircled in a 200-{micro}m spot. The weapons-effects community requires 1- and 0.5-{micro}m light on target, beam steering to widely spaced targets, a target chamber accommodating oversized objects, well-shielded diagnostic areas, and elimination of stray light in the target chamber. The beamline design, amplifier configuration and requirements for optics are discussed here.
- OSTI ID:
- 504907
- Journal Information:
- Laser Focus World, Other Information: PBD: Nov 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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