Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Predicted Pulsed-Power/Flash-Lamp Performance of the NIF Main Amplifier

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7922

The laser glass for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Main Amplifier system is pumped by a system of 192 pulsed power/flash lamp assemblies. Each of these 192 assemblies consists of a 1.6 MJ (nominal) capacitor bank working with a Pre-Ionization/Lamp Check (PILC) pulser to drive an array of 40 flash lamps. This paper describes the predicted performance of these Power Conditioning System (PCS) modules in concert with flashlamp assemblies in NIF. Each flashlamp assembly consists of 20 parallel sets of lamps in series pairs. The sensitivity of system performance to various design parameters of the PILC pulser and the main capacitor bank is described. Results of circuit models are compared to sub-scale flashlamp tests and to measurements taken in tests of a PCS module driving a flashlamp assembly in the First Article NIF Test Module facility at Sandia National Laboratories. Also included are predictions from a physics-based, semi-empirical amplifier gain code.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (US); Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
7922
Report Number(s):
SAND99-1560C
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THE NIF POWER CONDITIONING SYSTEM
Journal Article · Thu Sep 06 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science · OSTI ID:941382

STATUS OF THE NIF POWER CONDITIONING SYSTEM
Conference · Thu Jul 26 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · OSTI ID:921168

NIF Power Conditioning System Testing at LLNL
Conference · Tue Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2001 · OSTI ID:15005976