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

Influence and measurement of mass ablation in ICF implosions

Conference ·

Point design ignition capsules designed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) currently use an x-ray-driven Be(Cu) ablator to compress the DT fuel. Ignition specifications require that the mass of unablated Be(Cu), called residual mass, be known to within 1% of the initial ablator mass when the fuel reaches peak velocity. The specifications also require that the implosion bang time, a surrogate measurement for implosion velocity, be known to +/- 50 ps RMS. These specifications guard against several capsule failure modes associated with low implosion velocity or low residual mass. Experiments designed to measure and to tune experimentally the amount of residual mass are being developed as part of the National Ignition Campaign (NIC). Tuning adjustments of the residual mass and peak velocity can be achieved using capsule and laser parameters. We currently plan to measure the residual mass using streaked radiographic imaging of surrogate tuning capsules. Alternative techniques to measure residual mass using activated Cu debris collection and proton spectrometry have also been developed. These developing techniques, together with bang time measurements, will allow us to tune ignition capsules to meet NIC specs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
922316
Report Number(s):
UCRL-CONF-234432
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (4)

Update on Specifications for NIF Ignition Targets journal May 2007
Three-dimensional HYDRA simulations of National Ignition Facility targets journal May 2001
Diagnosing ablator burn through in ignition capsules using D2+He3 gas filled surrogates journal October 2006
Update on Specifications for NIF Ignition Targets, and Their Rollup into an Error Budget journal May 2006