The National Ignition Facility

Abstract

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Investigation of ion kinetic effects in direct-drive exploding-pusher implosions at the NIF

“…Exploding-pusher implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) 23 were conducted with ∼192 laser beams pointed in the polar direct drive configuration, 16 delivering 40 to 130 kJ onto a capsule in a 1.4-or 2.0-ns ramp pulse. The experiments used 2.2 g/cm 3 SiO 2 shells with a 1530 to 1680-µm diameter and a thickness of 4.1 to 4.6 µm, filled with 10 to 12 atm.…”

Hydrodynamic instability experiments with three-dimensional modulations at the National Ignition Facility

“…The first hydrodynamic instability growth measurements with three-dimensional (3D) surface-roughness modulations were performed on CH shell spherical implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [G. H. Miller, E. I. Moses, and C. R. Wuest, Opt. Eng.…”

Diagnosing implosions at the national ignition facility with X-ray spectroscopy

“…X-ray spectroscopy is a valuable diagnostic on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [1]. It is used to probe the plasma conditions of compressed inertial confinement fusion targets, which is crucial for hot-spot ignition [2].…”

“…This paper concentrates on three spectral features of the implosion: Ge He α emission, Ge K α emission, and the Ge K-edge. Hydrodynamic instabilities seeded by high-mode (50 <  < 200) ablator-surface perturbations on ignition-scale targets can cause mixing of Ge-doped ablator into the interior of the shell at the end of the acceleration phase [1]. As the shell decelerates, it compresses the fuel vapor forming a hot spot.…”