The National Ignition Facility 2007 laser performance status

Haynam, Christopher A.; Sacks, Richard A.; Wegner, Paul J.; Bowers, M. W.; Dixit, S.; Erbert, G.; Heestand, G.M.; Henesian, Mark A.; Hermann, M. R.; Jancaitis, K.; Manes, Kenneth R.; Marshall, C. D.; Mehta, Naresh C.; Menapace, Joe; Nostrand, Mike C.; Orth, Charles D.; Shaw, Michael J.; Sutton, Steven B.; Williams, Wade H.; Widmayer, C.; White, Roy; Yang, S. T.; Wonterghem, B. M. Van

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/112/3/032004

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the US Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) national centre to study inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and the physics of extreme energy densities and pressures 1 [1]. NIF concentrates all the energy of its 192 extremely powerful laser beams onto a centimetre-scale fusion target, driving it to conditions under which it will ignite and burn, liberating more energy than is required to initiate the fusion reactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ignition on the National Ignition Facility: a path towards inertial fusion energy

Moses

2009

Nucl. Fusion

162

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The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's largest and most powerful laser system for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and experiments studying high-energy-density (HED) science, is nearing completion at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). NIF, a 192-beam Nd-glass laser facility, will produce 1.8 MJ, 500 TW of light at the third-harmonic, ultraviolet light of 351 nm. The NIF project is scheduled for completion in March 2009. Currently, all 192 beams have been operationally qualified and have produced over 4.0 MJ of light at the fundamental wavelength of 1053 nm, making NIF the world's first megajoule laser. The principal goal of NIF is to achieve ignition of a deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel capsule and provide access to HED physics regimes needed for experiments related to national security, fusion energy and for broader scientific applications. The plan is to begin 96-beam symmetric indirect-drive ICF experiments early in FY2009. These first experiments represent the next phase of the National Ignition Campaign (NIC). This national effort to achieve fusion ignition is coordinated through a detailed plan that includes the science, technology and equipment such as diagnostics, cryogenic target manipulator and user optics required for ignition experiments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ignition on the National Ignition Facility: a path towards inertial fusion energy

Moses

2009

Nucl. Fusion

162

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“…The SFL is proportional to the square of beam radius and inversely proportional to the quadratic root of the ratio P/P cr . In current inertial confinement fusion laser driver facilities where high power large-aperture bulk laser system is applied, the optical power through a single aperture is much larger than the SF critical power [20]. However, due to the aperture diameter as large as 400mm, the SFL is a few kilometers long which is much longer than the thickness of the nonlinear media used in the facility.…”

Section: Self-focusing Length Of the Fundamental Modementioning

confidence: 99%

Self-focusing length in highly multimode ultra-large-mode-area fibers

et al. 2012

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Recent theoretical researches reveal that the self-focusing critical power in the fiber waveguide is identical to that in the bulk medium. However, the delivery of peak power much higher than the self-focusing critical power has been demonstrated experimentally in ultra-large-mode-area fiber (ULMAF). And no experimental observation of self-focusing effect has been reported in recent pulsed fiber laser system whose peak power has reached or even exceeded the critical power. In this paper, we try to address this issue by studying the self-focusing length theoretically in the ULMAF which is highly multimode. Nonlinear beam propagation method employing PÁDE(2,2) approximation is applied in the numerical simulation. The results show that the self-focusing length of the fundamental mode is typically a few millimeters which is almost identical to that in the bulk medium. However, the self-focusing length of the summation of numerous modes can be as long as a few meters.

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“…As indicated in Figures 1 and 2, VBL has become the simulation tool used for modeling NIF's optical behaviour and set-up and equipment protection during ongoing NIF commissioning activities and for the Precision Diagnostic System campaigns 1,3 . As part of this activity, we have developed input models that contain measured data for most aspects of the laser components.…”

Section: Nif Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser energetics and propagation modelling for the NIF

Sacks

Elliott

Goderre

et al. 2008

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Design, activation, and operation of modern high-energy, fusion-class lasers rely heavily on accurate simulation of laser performance. Setup, equipment protection, and data interpretation of the National Ignition Facility 1 (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are being controlled by a Laser Performance Operations Model (LPOM) 2 , which, at its core, utilizes a Virtual Beam Line (VBL) simulation code to predict laser energetics, wavefront, near-and far-field beam profiles, and damage risk prior to each shot. This same simulation tool is being used widely to understand such diverse phenomena as regenerative-amplifier saturation, damage inspection system performance, fratricide risk from small-scale flaws in large optics, converter performance, and conjugate image formation.

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The National Ignition Facility 2007 laser performance status

Cited by 18 publications

References 1 publication

Ignition on the National Ignition Facility: a path towards inertial fusion energy

Ignition on the National Ignition Facility: a path towards inertial fusion energy

Self-focusing length in highly multimode ultra-large-mode-area fibers

Laser energetics and propagation modelling for the NIF

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