National Ignition Campaign Hohlraum Energetics
The first series of experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [E. I. Moses, R. N. Boyd, B. A. Remington, C. J. Keane, and R. Al-Ayat, 'The National Ignition Facility: ushering in a new age for high energy density science,' Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)] tested ignition hohlraum 'energetics,' a term described by four broad goals: (1) Measurement of laser absorption by the hohlraum; (2) Measurement of the x-ray radiation flux (T{sub RAD}{sup 4}) on the surrogate ignition capsule; (3) Quantitative understanding of the laser absorption and resultant x-ray flux; and (4) Determining whether initial hohlraum performance is consistent with requirements for ignition. This paper summarizes the status of NIF hohlraum energetics experiments. The hohlraum targets and experimental design are described, as well as the results of the initial experiments. The data demonstrate low backscattered energy (< 10%) for hohlraums filled with helium gas. A discussion of our current understanding of NIF hohlraum x-ray drive follows, including an overview of the computational tools, i.e., radiation-hydrodynamics codes, that have been used to design the hohlraums. The performance of the codes is compared to x-ray drive and capsule implosion data from the first NIF experiments. These results bode well for future NIF ignition hohlraum experiments.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 978408
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-420568; PHPAEN; TRN: US1002975
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 5; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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