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Title: Shock timing on the National Ignition Facility: First Experiments

Conference ·

An experimental campaign to tune the initial shock compression sequence of capsule implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) was initiated in late 2010. The experiments use a NIF ignition-scale hohlraum and capsule that employs a reentrant cone to provide optical access to the shocks as they propagate in the liquid deuterium-filled capsule interior. The strength and timing of the shock sequence is diagnosed with velocity interferometry that provides target performance data used to set the pulse shape for ignition capsule implosions that follow. From the start, these measurements yielded significant new information on target performance, leading to improvements in the target design. We describe the results and interpretation of the initial tuning experiments.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
1035299
Report Number(s):
LLNL-PROC-513762; TRN: US1201004
Resource Relation:
Journal Volume: 59; Conference: Presented at: 7th International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, Bordeaux, France, Sep 12 - Sep 16, 2011
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (7)

Shock timing technique for the National Ignition Facility journal May 2001
Demonstration of the shock-timing technique for ignition targets on the National Ignition Facility journal May 2009
Capsule performance optimization in the National Ignition Campaign journal May 2010
Laser interferometer for measuring high velocities of any reflecting surface journal November 1972
Line-imaging velocimeter for shock diagnostics at the OMEGA laser facility journal November 2004
Shock-Induced Transformation of Liquid Deuterium into a Metallic Fluid journal June 2000
High-precision measurements of the equation of state of hydrocarbons at 1–10 Mbar using laser-driven shock waves journal May 2010