Production and characterization of large plasmas from gas bag targets on Nova

Journal Article · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.871148· OSTI ID:80932

Kalantar, D H; Klem, D E; MacGowan, B J; Moody, J D; Montgomery, D S; Munro, D H; Shepard, T D; Stone, G F ^[1]; Failor, B H ^[2]; Hsing, W W ^[3]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
2. Physics International Company, San Leandro, California 94577 (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

Large plasmas are created by illuminating gas-filled thin-walled balloon-like targets using the Nova laser [E. Campbell {ital et} {ital al}., Rev. Sci. Instrum. {bold 57}, 2101 (1986)]. The targets consist of a 5000--6000 A skin surrounding 1 atm of neopentane, which, when ionized, becomes a plasma with an electron density of 10{sup 21} electrons/cm{sup 3}. X-ray images of the gas bag target are used to evaluate the size and uniformity of the plasma by comparison with LASNEX [R. M. More, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer {bold 27}, 345 (1982)] simulations. The gas bags are heated with converging and diverging beam spots. The most uniform plasmas are created by illuminating the target with large converging beam spots that overlap to cover most of the surface of the gas bag. The gas bag plasma is heated to a peak temperature of approximately 3.5 keV, with 25 kJ of 3{omega} laser light in a 1 ns square pulse. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital American} {ital Institute} {ital of} {ital Physics}.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 80932
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 2; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ICF DEVICES
LASER FUSION REACTORS
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
LASER-RADIATION HEATING
NOVA FACILITY
PLASMA PRODUCTION