We report a summary ofthe surface damage, growth mitigation effort at 3w for fused silica optics at LLNL. The objective was to experimentally validate selected methods that could be applied to pre-initiated or retrieved-fromservice optics, to stop further damage growth. A specific goal was to obtain sufficient data and information on successful methods for fused silica optics to select a single approach for processing NIF optics.This paper includes the test results and the evaluation thereof, for several mitigation methods for fused silica. The mitigation methods tested in this study are wet chemical etching, cold plasma etching, CO2 laser processing, and micro-flame torch processing. We found that CO2 laser processing produces the most significant and consistent results to halt laser-induced surface damage growth on fused silica. We recorded successful mitigation of the growth of laser-induced surface damage sites as large as 0.5mm diameter, for 1000 shots at fluences in the range of 8 to 1 3J/cm2. We obtained sufficient data for elimination of damage growth using CO2 laser processing on subaperture representative optics, to proceed with application to full-scale NIF optics.

The introduction of salmonids into lakes of western North America for sport fishing is a widespread phenomenon. While numerous investigations have documented cascading trophic interactions upon the introduction of fish into naturally fishless systems, little research has been done to investigate the importance of natural fish status (fishless vs. fish bearing) in modulating historical food web response to dual forcing by bottom-up (resource regulation from nutrients) and top-down (planktivory from stocked fish) processes. We used the paleolimnological record to reconstruct food web changes in four lakes in interior British Columbia that have been stocked with rainbow trout since the early to mid-1900s. Analysis of pigments, diatoms, and Cladocera was undertaken in cores from all lakes. We predicted that if fish were important in structuring cladoceran abundance and composition, we would document a decline in the abundance of large daphnids post-stocking in our two naturally fishless lakes, and little change in the two fish-bearing lakes. Instead, we documented increased abundance of large daphnids after stocking in all lakes in the early to mid-1900s, a finding inconsistent with size-selective predation from planktivorous fish. Further, our data suggest that deep, low-oxygen refugia may be important in sustaining populations of large Daphnia, a process which was enhanced by increased nutrients and lake production according to sub-fossil diatom and pigment analyses. This study shows that fish stocking does not invariably result in a decrease in large-bodied Cladocera and that nutrients and lake type can modulate the response of invertebrate planktivores.

This is a preprint of a paper intended for publication in a journal or proceedings. Since changes may be made before publication, this preprint is made available with the understanding that it will not be cited or reproduced without the permission of the author.

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We have applied a carbon dioxide (C02) raster scanning laser polishing technique on two types of fused silica flat optics to determine the efficacy of C02-laser polishing as a method to increase the 351-nm laser damage resistance of optic surfaces. R-on-1 damage test results show that the fluence for any given 355-nm damage probability is 10-15 J/cm2 higher (at 3 ns pulse length, scaled) for the C02-laser polished samples. Poor quality and good quality surfaces respond to the treatment such that their surface damage resistance is brought to approximately the same level. Surface stress and the resultant effect on wavefront quality remain key technology issues that would need to be addressed for a robust deployment.