Target fabrication for the POLAR experiment on the Orion laser facility

Abstract

(2013)), studied conditions relevant to the radiation-hydrodynamic processes occurring in a remarkable class of astrophysical star systems known as magnetic cataclysmic variables. A large number of complex fabrication technologies and research and development activities were required to field a total of 80 high-specification targets. Target design and fabrication procedures are described and initial alignment and characterization data are discussed.

Design and fabrication of gas cell targets for laboratory astrophysics experiments on the Orion high-power laser facility

“…In addition to the gas cell targets backlighter targets used were a standard design as in previous campaigns [8] .…”

“…The brominated plastic disks were produced using hot-pressing techniques as a foil of the required bromine content, and thickness was not commercially available. Previous academic access experiments [8] have used CHBr disks developed using hot-pressing a brominated plastic bromo-4-polystyrene, which although pressed under temperature and pressure can form a foil with a granular structure, which would be unsuitable for the experiment as it would seed instabilities in the plasma flow.…”

“…Three 1-week experimental campaigns were carried out in March 2015, July 2015 and October 2015. In addition to the gas cell targets backlighter targets used were a standard design as in previous campaigns [8] .…”

A novel multi-shot target platform for laser-driven laboratory astrophysics experiments

“…The current standard in this field is to use microfabricated targets specifically built for the characteristics of the experiment [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] . While this allows maximum adaptability to the desired geometry, it can also imply some drawbacks: the cost of microfabricating these targets is often higher than it would be if they were machine produced, in addition to the lead time required for their manufacturing, assembly and metrology.…”