skip to main content
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Development and modeling of a polar-direct-drive exploding pusher platform at the National Ignition Facility

Abstract

High-intensity laser facilities, such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF), allow the experimental investigation of plasmas under extreme, high-energy-density conditions. Motivated by validating models for collisional heat-transfer processes in high-energy-density plasmas, we have developed an exploding pusher platform for use at the NIF in the polar-direct-drive configuration. The baseline design employs a 3 mm-diameter capsule, an 18 μm-thick CH ablator, and Ar-doped D 2 gas to achieve several keV electron-ion temperature separations with relatively low convergence ratios. In an initial series of shots at the NIF—N160920–003, -005, and N160921–001—the ratio of the laser intensity at different polar angles was varied to optimize the symmetry of the implosion. In this work, we summarize experimental results from the shot series and present pre- and post-shot analysis. Although the polar-direct-drive configuration is inherently asymmetric, we successfully tuned a post-shot 1D model to a set of key implosion performance metrics. The post-shot model has proven effective for extrapolating capsule performance to higher incident laser drive. Overall, the simplicity of the platform and the efficacy of the post-shot 1D model make the polar-direct-drive exploding pusher platform attractive for a variety of applications beyond the originally targeted study of collisional processes in high-energy-density plasmas.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [3]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [5]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [1];  [2] more »;  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [4] « less
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Berkshire (United Kingdom)
  3. Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)
  4. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  5. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1566028
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1462156
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-744974
Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X; 899581
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344; PECASE
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 25; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Ellison, C. Leland, Whitley, Heather D., Brown, Colin R. D., Copeland, Sean R., Garbett, Warren J., Le, Hai P., Schneider, Marilyn B., Walters, Zachary B., Chen, Hui, Castor, John I., Craxton, R. Stephen, Gatu Johnson, Maria, Garcia, Emma M., Graziani, Frank R., Kemp, G. Elijah, Krauland, Christine M., McKenty, Patrick W., Lahmann, Brandon, Pino, Jesse E., Rubery, Michael S., Scott, Howard A., Shepherd, Ronnie, and Sio, Hong. Development and modeling of a polar-direct-drive exploding pusher platform at the National Ignition Facility. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1063/1.5025724.
Copy to clipboard
Ellison, C. Leland, Whitley, Heather D., Brown, Colin R. D., Copeland, Sean R., Garbett, Warren J., Le, Hai P., Schneider, Marilyn B., Walters, Zachary B., Chen, Hui, Castor, John I., Craxton, R. Stephen, Gatu Johnson, Maria, Garcia, Emma M., Graziani, Frank R., Kemp, G. Elijah, Krauland, Christine M., McKenty, Patrick W., Lahmann, Brandon, Pino, Jesse E., Rubery, Michael S., Scott, Howard A., Shepherd, Ronnie, & Sio, Hong. Development and modeling of a polar-direct-drive exploding pusher platform at the National Ignition Facility. United States. doi:10.1063/1.5025724.
Copy to clipboard
Ellison, C. Leland, Whitley, Heather D., Brown, Colin R. D., Copeland, Sean R., Garbett, Warren J., Le, Hai P., Schneider, Marilyn B., Walters, Zachary B., Chen, Hui, Castor, John I., Craxton, R. Stephen, Gatu Johnson, Maria, Garcia, Emma M., Graziani, Frank R., Kemp, G. Elijah, Krauland, Christine M., McKenty, Patrick W., Lahmann, Brandon, Pino, Jesse E., Rubery, Michael S., Scott, Howard A., Shepherd, Ronnie, and Sio, Hong. Mon . "Development and modeling of a polar-direct-drive exploding pusher platform at the National Ignition Facility". United States. doi:10.1063/1.5025724. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1566028.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1566028,
title = {Development and modeling of a polar-direct-drive exploding pusher platform at the National Ignition Facility},
author = {Ellison, C. Leland and Whitley, Heather D. and Brown, Colin R. D. and Copeland, Sean R. and Garbett, Warren J. and Le, Hai P. and Schneider, Marilyn B. and Walters, Zachary B. and Chen, Hui and Castor, John I. and Craxton, R. Stephen and Gatu Johnson, Maria and Garcia, Emma M. and Graziani, Frank R. and Kemp, G. Elijah and Krauland, Christine M. and McKenty, Patrick W. and Lahmann, Brandon and Pino, Jesse E. and Rubery, Michael S. and Scott, Howard A. and Shepherd, Ronnie and Sio, Hong},
abstractNote = {High-intensity laser facilities, such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF), allow the experimental investigation of plasmas under extreme, high-energy-density conditions. Motivated by validating models for collisional heat-transfer processes in high-energy-density plasmas, we have developed an exploding pusher platform for use at the NIF in the polar-direct-drive configuration. The baseline design employs a 3 mm-diameter capsule, an 18 μm-thick CH ablator, and Ar-doped D2 gas to achieve several keV electron-ion temperature separations with relatively low convergence ratios. In an initial series of shots at the NIF—N160920–003, -005, and N160921–001—the ratio of the laser intensity at different polar angles was varied to optimize the symmetry of the implosion. In this work, we summarize experimental results from the shot series and present pre- and post-shot analysis. Although the polar-direct-drive configuration is inherently asymmetric, we successfully tuned a post-shot 1D model to a set of key implosion performance metrics. The post-shot model has proven effective for extrapolating capsule performance to higher incident laser drive. Overall, the simplicity of the platform and the efficacy of the post-shot 1D model make the polar-direct-drive exploding pusher platform attractive for a variety of applications beyond the originally targeted study of collisional processes in high-energy-density plasmas.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5025724},
journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
number = 7,
volume = 25,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {7}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
DOI:  10.1063/1.5025724
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 3 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1 FIG. 1: Schematic of the PDXP target, which uses 8 atm of deuterium gas surrounded by an 18 $µ$m-thick GDP shell and supported by a 30 $µ$m borosilicate fill tube.
All figures and tables (13 total)
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Thermo-diffusion in inertially confined plasmas
journal, April 2014

The NIF x-ray spectrometer calibration campaign at Omega
journal, November 2014

  • Pérez, F.; Kemp, G. E.; Regan, S. P.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 85, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4891054

The stability of multiple-shell ICF targets
journal, November 1980

  • Roberts, P. D.; Rose, S. J.; Thompson, P. C.
  • Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 13, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/13/11/007

Indications of Strongly Flux-Limited Electron Thermal Conduction in Laser-Target Experiments
journal, March 1975

Diffusion-dominated mixing in moderate convergence implosions
journal, June 2018

Analytic expressions for electron-ion temperature equilibration rates from the Lenard-Balescu equation
journal, January 2018

Electro-diffusion in a plasma with two ion species
journal, August 2012

  • Kagan, Grigory; Tang, Xian-Zhu
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4745869

Numerical simulation of thin-shell direct drive DHe3-filled capsules fielded at OMEGA
journal, July 2012

  • Miles, A. R.; Chung, H. -K.; Heeter, R.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4737052

A spatially resolved ion temperature diagnostic for the National Ignition Facility
journal, October 2008

  • Grim, G. P.; Finch, J. P.; King, N. S. P.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 79, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.2973324

The production spectrum in fusion plasmas
journal, February 2011

Point design targets, specifications, and requirements for the 2010 ignition campaign on the National Ignition Facility
journal, May 2011

  • Haan, S. W.; Lindl, J. D.; Callahan, D. A.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3592169

Large-eddy and unsteady RANS simulations of a shock-accelerated heavy gas cylinder
journal, April 2015

Ionic transport in high-energy-density matter
journal, April 2016

The effects of laser absorption on direct-drive capsule experiments at OMEGA
journal, April 2012

  • Dodd, E. S.; Benage, J. F.; Kyrala, G. A.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3700187

Observation of a Reflected Shock in an Indirectly Driven Spherical Implosion at the National Ignition Facility
journal, June 2014

Revised Knudsen-layer reduction of fusion reactivity
journal, December 2013

  • Albright, B. J.; Molvig, Kim; Huang, C. -K.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4833639

Development of a polar direct-drive platform for studying inertial confinement fusion implosion mix on the National Ignition Facility
journal, May 2013

  • Schmitt, Mark J.; Bradley, Paul A.; Cobble, James A.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4803886

Electron-ion equilibration in a partially degenerate plasma
journal, October 1974

Diffusion coefficients for stellar plasmas
journal, May 1986

  • Paquette, C.; Pelletier, C.; Fontaine, G.
  • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 61
  • DOI: 10.1086/191111

Measuring x-ray burn history with the Streaked Polar Instrumentation for Diagnosing Energetic Radiation (SPIDER) at the National Ignition Facility (NIF)
conference, October 2012

  • Khan, S. F.; Bell, P. M.; Bradley, D. K.
  • SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.930032

Polar-direct-drive simulations and experiments
journal, May 2006

  • Marozas, J. A.; Marshall, F. J.; Craxton, R. S.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 13, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.2184949

Purgatorio—a new implementation of the Inferno algorithm
journal, May 2006

  • Wilson, B.; Sonnad, V.; Sterne, P.
  • Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Vol. 99, Issue 1-3
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2005.05.053

Polar direct drive on the National Ignition Facility
journal, May 2004

  • Skupsky, S.; Marozas, J. A.; Craxton, R. S.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 11, Issue 5, p. 2763-2770
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1689665

Equation of state, occupation probabilities and conductivities in the average atom Purgatorio code
journal, May 2007

Molecular dynamics simulations and generalized Lenard-Balescu calculations of electron-ion temperature equilibration in plasmas
journal, October 2012

Polar-direct-drive experiments on the National Ignition Facilitya)
journal, May 2015

  • Hohenberger, M.; Radha, P. B.; Myatt, J. F.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4920958

A study of ALE simulations of Rayleigh–Taylor instability
journal, March 2001

  • Darlington, Rebecca M.; McAbee, Thomas L.; Rodrigue, Garry
  • Computer Physics Communications, Vol. 135, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1016/S0010-4655(00)00216-2

Understanding reconstructed Dante spectra using high resolution spectroscopy
journal, August 2016

  • May, M. J.; Weaver, J.; Widmann, K.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 87, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4961267

Laser Compression of Matter to Super-High Densities: Thermonuclear (CTR) Applications
journal, September 1972

  • Nuckolls, John; Wood, Lowell; Thiessen, Albert
  • Nature, Vol. 239, Issue 5368, p. 139-142
  • DOI: 10.1038/239139a0

Backscatter measurements for NIF ignition targets (invited)
journal, October 2010

  • Moody, J. D.; Datte, P.; Krauter, K.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 81, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3491035

Neutron time-of-flight signals from expanding or contracting spherical sources
journal, January 1997

  • Murphy, T. J.; Chrien, R. E.; Klare, K. A.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 68, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1147666

Direct drive: Simulations and results from the National Ignition Facility
journal, April 2016

  • Radha, P. B.; Hohenberger, M.; Edgell, D. H.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4946023

The National Ignition Facility
journal, December 2004

Dante soft x-ray power diagnostic for National Ignition Facility
journal, October 2004

  • Dewald, E. L.; Campbell, K. M.; Turner, R. E.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 75, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1788872

Exploding pusher performance − A theoretical model
journal, January 1979

  • Rosen, M. D.; Nuckolls, J. H.
  • Physics of Fluids, Vol. 22, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.862752

Capsule implosions for continuum x-ray backlighting of opacity samples at the National Ignition Facility
journal, June 2017

  • Opachich, Y. P.; Heeter, R. F.; Barrios, M. A.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4985076

A Comparison of Three Methods for Selecting Values of Input Variables in the Analysis of Output from a Computer Code
journal, May 1979

  • McKay, M. D.; Beckman, R. J.; Conover, W. J.
  • Technometrics, Vol. 21, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.2307/1268522

Knudsen Layer Reduction of Fusion Reactivity
journal, August 2012

Cretin—a radiative transfer capability for laboratory plasmas
journal, October 2001

Investigation of ion kinetic effects in direct-drive exploding-pusher implosions at the NIF
journal, December 2014

  • Rosenberg, M. J.; Zylstra, A. B.; Séguin, F. H.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4905064

Laser irradiance scaling in polar direct drive implosions on the National Ignition Facility
journal, September 2015

  • Murphy, T. J.; Krasheninnikova, N. S.; Kyrala, G. A.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4931092

Hydrodynamics of thermal self‐focusing in laser plasmas
journal, July 1984

  • Craxton, R. S.; McCrory, R. L.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 56, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.333742

Full aperture backscatter station measurement system on the National Ignition Facility
journal, October 2004

  • Bower, D. E.; McCarville, T. J.; Alvarez, S. S.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 75, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1791749

Polar-drive designs for optimizing neutron yields on the National Ignition Facility
journal, August 2008

  • Cok, A. M.; Craxton, R. S.; McKenty, P. W.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 15, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.2975213

Approximate models for the ion-kinetic regime in inertial-confinement-fusion capsule implosions
journal, May 2015

  • Hoffman, Nelson M.; Zimmerman, George B.; Molvig, Kim
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4921130

Path integral Monte Carlo simulations of dense carbon-hydrogen plasmas
journal, March 2018

  • Zhang, Shuai; Militzer, Burkhard; Benedict, Lorin X.
  • The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 148, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.5001208
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Figures / Tables found in this record:

    FIG. 1(p. 9)figure
    FIG. 2(p. 11)figure
    TABLE I(p. 12)table
    TABLE II(p. 13)table
    FIG. 3(p. 14)figure
    FIG. 4(p. 14)figure
    FIG. 5(p. 16)figure
    FIG. 6(p. 19)figure
    TABLE III(p. 21)table
    FIG. 7(p. 23)figure
    FIG. 8(p. 24)figure
    FIG. 9(p. 28)figure
    FIG. 10(p. 29)figure
      [ × clear filter / sort ]
      Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

      Similar records in OSTI.GOV collections: