X-ray streaked refraction enhanced radiography for inferring inflight density gradients in ICF capsule implosions

Journal Article · 01 October 2018 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5039346 · OSTI ID:1477148

Dewald, E. L. ^[1]; Landen, O. L.  ^[1]; Masse, L.  ^[1]; Ho, D. ^[1]; Ping, Y. ^[1]; Thorn, D. ^[1]; Izumi, N.  ^[1]; Berzak Hopkins, L.  ^[1]; Kroll, J. ^[1]; Nikroo, A.  ^[1]; Koch, J. A. ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
2. Nevada National Security Site, Livermore, CA (United States)

In the quest for reaching ignition of deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel capsule implosions, experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have shown lower final fuel areal densities than simulated. Possible explanations for reduced compression are higher preheat that can increase the ablator-DT ice density jump and induce mix at that interface or reverberating shocks. We are hence developing x-ray Refraction Enhanced Radiography (RER) to infer the inflight density profiles in layered fuel capsule implosions. We use a 5 μm slit backlit by a Ni 7.8 keV He-α NIF laser driven x-ray source positioned at 20 mm from the capsule to cast refracted images of the inflight capsule onto a streak camera in a high magnification (M ~ 60×) setup. Our first experiments have validated our setup that recorded a streaked x-ray fringe pattern from an undriven high density carbon (HDC) capsule consistent with ray tracing calculations at the required ~6 μm and 25 ps resolution. Streaked RER was then applied to inflight layered HDC capsule implosions using a hydrogen-tritium fuel mix rather than DT to reduce neutron yields and associated backgrounds. The first RER of an imploding capsule revealed strong features associated with the ablation front and ice-ablator interface that are not visible in standard absorption radiographs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1477148
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1471145
• Report Number(s): LLNL-JRNL-750878; 936350
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 89, Issue 10; ISSN 0034-6748
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English