The National Ignition Facility (NIF) successfully completed its first inertial confinement fusion (ICF) campaign in 2009. A neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) system was part of the nuclear diagnostics used in this campaign. The nTOF technique has been used for decades on ICF facilities to infer the ion temperature of hot deuterium (D(2)) and deuterium-tritium (DT) plasmas based on the temporal Doppler broadening of the primary neutron peak. Once calibrated for absolute neutron sensitivity, the nTOF detectors can be used to measure the yield with high accuracy. The NIF nTOF system is designed to measure neutron yield and ion temperature over 11 orders of magnitude (from 10(8) to 10(19)), neutron bang time in DT implosions between 10(12) and 10(16), and to infer areal density for DT yields above 10(12). During the 2009 campaign, the three most sensitive neutron time-of-flight detectors were installed and used to measure the primary neutron yield and ion temperature from 25 high-convergence implosions using D(2) fuel. The OMEGA yield calibration of these detectors was successfully transferred to the NIF.
The Orion laser facility at the atomic weapons establishment (AWE) in the UK has been operational since April 2013, fielding experiments that require both its long and short pulse capability. This paper provides a full description of the facility in terms of laser performance, target systems and diagnostics currently available. Inevitably, this is a snapshot of current capability-the available diagnostics and the laser capability are evolving continuously. The laser systems consist of ten beams, optimised around 1 ns pulse duration, which each provide a nominal 500 J at a wavelength of 351 nm. There are also two short pulse beams, which each provide 500 J in 0.5 ps at 1054 nm. There are options for frequency doubling one short pulse beam to enhance the pulse temporal contrast. More recently, further contrast enhancement, based on optical parametric amplification (OPA) in the front end with a pump pulse duration of a few ps, has been installed. An extensive suite of diagnostics are available for users, probing the optical emission, x-rays and particles produced in laser-target interactions. Optical probe diagnostics are also available. A description of the diagnostics is provided.
The gamma reaction history (GRH) diagnostic is a multichannel, time-resolved, energy-thresholded γ-ray spectrometer that provides a high-bandwidth, direct-measurement of fusion reaction history in inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments. 16.75 MeV deuterium+tritium (DT) fusion γ-rays, with a branching ratio of the order of 10(-5)γ/(14 MeV n), are detected to determine fundamental burn parameters, such as nuclear bang time and burn width, critical to achieving ignition at the National Ignition Facility. During the tritium/hydrogen/deuterium ignition tuning campaign, an additional γ-ray line at 19.8 MeV, produced by hydrogen+tritium fusion with a branching ratio of unity, will increase the available γ-ray signal and may allow measurement of reacting fuel composition or ion temperature. Ablator areal density measurements with the GRH are also made possible by detection of 4.43 MeV γ-rays produced by inelastic scatter of DT fusion neutrons on (12)C nuclei in the ablating plastic capsule material.
Directly driven implosions at the Omega laser have tested the effects of pre-mix of Ar, Kr, and Xe in D 2 + 3 He filled glass micro-balloons. Diagnostics included: D+D and D+T neutron yields, D+ 3 He proton yields and spectra, Doppler broadened ion temperatures, time dependent neutron and proton burn rates, and time gated, high energy filtered, X-ray images. Yields are better calculated by XSN LTE than by non-LTE. Yields with a small amount of premix, atom fractions of ~5e-3 for Ar, 2e-3 Kr, and Xe for 5e-4, are more degraded than calculated, while the measured ion temperatures are the same as without pre-mix. There is also a decrease in fuel ρr. The neutron burn histories suggest that the early yield coming before the reflected shock strikes the incoming shell is un-degraded, with yield degradation occurring afterwards. Adding 20 atm % 3 He to pure D fuel seems to produce a similar degradation. Calculated gated X-ray images agree with observed when the reflected shock strikes the incoming shell, but are smaller than observed afterward. This partially explains yield degradation and both the low fuel and whole capsule ρr's observed in secondary T+D neutrons and slowing of the D+ 3 He protons. Neither LTE on non-LTE captures the degradation by 3 He or at low pre-mix levels, nor matches the large shell radii after impact of the reflected shock.
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