Elevated Electron Temperature Coincident with Observed Fusion Reactions in a Sheared-Flow-Stabilized Z Pinch.

The sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch concept has been studied extensively and is able to produce fusion-relevant plasma parameters along with neutron production over several microseconds. We present here elevated electron temperature results spatially and temporally coincident with the plasma neutron source. An optical Thomson scattering apparatus designed for the FuZE device measures temperatures in the range of 1-3 keV on the axis of the device, 20 cm downstream of the nose cone. The 17-fiber system measures the radial profiles of the electron temperature. Scanning the laser time with respect to the neutron pulse time over a series of discharges allows the reconstruction of the T_{e} temporal response, confirming that the electron temperature peaks simultaneously with the neutron output, as well as the pinch current and inductive voltage generated within the plasma. Comparison to spectroscopic ion temperature measurements suggests a plasma in thermal equilibrium. The elevated T_{e} confirms the presence of a plasma assembled on axis, and indicates limited radiative losses, demonstrating a basis for scaling this device toward net gain fusion conditions.

Probing local electron temperature and density inside a sheared flow stabilized Z-pinch using portable optical Thomson scattering.

We report the first optical Thomson scattering measurements inside a high electron temperature (≳1 keV) and moderate electron density (mid 1016 cm-3) plasma. This diagnostic has been built to provide critical plasma parameters, such as electron temperature and density, for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy-supported fusion-energy concepts. It uses an 8 J laser at 532 nm in 1.5 ns to measure the high frequency feature of the Thomson scattering profile at 17 locations along the probe axis. It is able to measure electron density from 5 × 1017 cm-3 to several 1019 cm-3 and electron temperatures from tens of eV to several keV. Here, we describe the design, deployment, and analysis on the sheared flow stabilized Z-pinch machine at Zap Energy named FuZE. The probe beam is aimed at an axial distance of 20 cm from the central electrode and is timed within the temporal envelope of neutron emission. The high temperature and moderate density plasmas generated on FuZE lie in an unconventional regime for Thomson scattering as they are between tokamaks and laser-produced plasmas. We described the analysis considerations in this regime, show that the electron density was below 5 × 1016 cm-3 at all times during these measurements, and present a sample shot where the inferred electron temperature varied from 167 ± 16 eV to 700 ± 85 eV over 1.6 cm.

Slow and Fast Light in Plasma Using Optical Wave Mixing.

Slow and fast light, or large changes in the group velocity of light, have been observed in a range of optical media, but the fine optical control necessary to induce an observable effect has not been achieved in a plasma. Here, we describe how the ion-acoustic response in a fully ionized plasma can produce large and measurable changes in the group velocity of light. We show the first experimental demonstration of slow and fast light in a plasma, measuring group velocities between 0.12c and -0.34c.

Hotspot parameter scaling with velocity and yield for high-adiabat layered implosions at the National Ignition Facility.

This paper presents a study on hotspot parameters in indirect-drive, inertially confined fusion implosions as they proceed through the self-heating regime. The implosions with increasing nuclear yield reach the burning-plasma regime, hotspot ignition, and finally propagating burn and ignition. These implosions span a wide range of alpha heating from a yield amplification of 1.7-2.5. We show that the hotspot parameters are explicitly dependent on both yield and velocity and that by fitting to both of these quantities the hotspot parameters can be fit with a single power law in velocity. The yield scaling also enables the hotspot parameters extrapolation to higher yields. This is important as various degradation mechanisms can occur on a given implosion at fixed implosion velocity which can have a large impact on both yield and the hotspot parameters. The yield scaling also enables the experimental dependence of the hotspot parameters on yield amplification to be determined. The implosions reported have resulted in the highest yield (1.73×10^{16}±2.6%), yield amplification, pressure, and implosion velocity yet reported at the National Ignition Facility.

Theory and measurements of convective Raman side scatter in inertial confinement fusion experiments.

Raman side scatter, whereby scattered light is resonant while propagating perpendicularly to a density gradient in a plasma, was identified experimentally in planar-target experiments at the National Ignition Facility at intensities orders of magnitudes below the threshold for absolute instability. We have derived a new theoretical description of convective Raman side scatter below the absolute threshold, validated by numerical simulations. We show that inertial confinement fusion experiments at full ignition scale, i.e., with mm-scale spot sizes and density scale lengths, are prone to increased coupling losses from Raman side scatter as the instability can extend from the absolute regime near the quarter-critical density to the convective regime at lower electron densities.

High-Performance Indirect-Drive Cryogenic Implosions at High Adiabat on the National Ignition Facility.

To reach the pressures and densities required for ignition, it may be necessary to develop an approach to design that makes it easier for simulations to guide experiments. Here, we report on a new short-pulse inertial confinement fusion platform that is specifically designed to be more predictable. The platform has demonstrated 99%+0.5% laser coupling into the hohlraum, high implosion velocity (411 km/s), high hotspot pressure (220+60 Gbar), and high cold fuel areal density compression ratio (>400), while maintaining controlled implosion symmetry, providing a promising new physics platform to study ignition physics.

Time resolved detection of two-plasmon decay using three-halves harmonic emission on the National Ignition Facility.

Supra-thermal (>100 keV) electrons generated by laser plasma interactions can be detrimental to the performance of ignition experiments conducted on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). On a NIF shot, the amount of electrons is estimated by measuring the hard X-rays passing through the hohlraum wall. The primary sources of hot electrons in a hohlraum are Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) and two plasmon decay (TPD). While SRS is well diagnosed on the NIF, there has been no diagnosis of TPD. We have designed and implemented a new diagnostic to characterize the time history of TPD on the NIF. The instrument provides a time resolved measurement of the 3/2 ω harmonic emission which is indicative of the presence of TPD. We describe the diagnostic setup, calibration, and the preliminary results obtained on NIF hohlraum experiments. We find evidence of a correlation between measured hard X-rays generated from the hot electron bremsstrahlung and the TPD emission.

Fusion Energy Output Greater than the Kinetic Energy of an Imploding Shell at the National Ignition Facility.

A series of cryogenic, layered deuterium-tritium (DT) implosions have produced, for the first time, fusion energy output twice the peak kinetic energy of the imploding shell. These experiments at the National Ignition Facility utilized high density carbon ablators with a three-shock laser pulse (1.5 MJ in 7.5 ns) to irradiate low gas-filled (0.3 mg/cc of helium) bare depleted uranium hohlraums, resulting in a peak hohlraum radiative temperature ∼290 eV. The imploding shell, composed of the nonablated high density carbon and the DT cryogenic layer, is, thus, driven to velocity on the order of 380 km/s resulting in a peak kinetic energy of ∼21 kJ, which once stagnated produced a total DT neutron yield of 1.9×10^{16} (shot N170827) corresponding to an output fusion energy of 54 kJ. Time dependent low mode asymmetries that limited further progress of implosions have now been controlled, leading to an increased compression of the hot spot. It resulted in hot spot areal density (ρr∼0.3 g/cm^{2}) and stagnation pressure (∼360 Gbar) never before achieved in a laboratory experiment.

Origins and Scaling of Hot-Electron Preheat in Ignition-Scale Direct-Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments.

Planar laser-plasma interaction (LPI) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have allowed access for the first time to regimes of electron density scale length (∼500 to 700 µm), electron temperature (∼3 to 5 keV), and laser intensity (6 to 16×10^{14} W/cm^{2}) that are relevant to direct-drive inertial confinement fusion ignition. Unlike in shorter-scale-length plasmas on OMEGA, scattered-light data on the NIF show that the near-quarter-critical LPI physics is dominated by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) rather than by two-plasmon decay (TPD). This difference in regime is explained based on absolute SRS and TPD threshold considerations. SRS sidescatter tangential to density contours and other SRS mechanisms are observed. The fraction of laser energy converted to hot electrons is ∼0.7% to 2.9%, consistent with observed levels of SRS. The intensity threshold for hot-electron production is assessed, and the use of a Si ablator slightly increases this threshold from ∼4×10^{14} to ∼6×10^{14} W/cm^{2}. These results have significant implications for mitigation of LPI hot-electron preheat in direct-drive ignition designs.

Observation of Betatron X-Ray Radiation in a Self-Modulated Laser Wakefield Accelerator Driven with Picosecond Laser Pulses.

We investigate a new regime for betatron x-ray emission that utilizes kilojoule-class picosecond lasers to drive wakes in plasmas. When such laser pulses with intensities of ∼5×10^{18} W/cm^{2} are focused into plasmas with electron densities of ∼1×10^{19} cm^{-3}, they undergo self-modulation and channeling, which accelerates electrons up to 200 MeV energies and causes those electrons to emit x rays. The measured x-ray spectra are fit with a synchrotron spectrum with a critical energy of 10-20 keV, and 2D particle-in-cell simulations were used to model the acceleration and radiation of the electrons in our experimental conditions.

Ultrafast probing of magnetic field growth inside a laser-driven solenoid.

We report on the detection of the time-dependent B-field amplitude and topology in a laser-driven solenoid. The B-field inferred from both proton deflectometry and Faraday rotation ramps up linearly in time reaching 210 ± 35 T at the end of a 0.75-ns laser drive with 1 TW at 351 nm. A lumped-element circuit model agrees well with the linear rise and suggests that the blow-off plasma screens the field between the plates leading to an increased plate capacitance that converts the laser-generated hot-electron current into a voltage source that drives current through the solenoid. ALE3D modeling shows that target disassembly and current diffusion may limit the B-field increase for longer laser drive. Scaling of these experimental results to a National Ignition Facility (NIF) hohlraum target size (∼0.2cm^{3}) indicates that it is possible to achieve several tens of Tesla.

Publisher's Note: Development of improved radiation drive environment for high foot implosions at the National Ignition Facility [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 225002 (2016)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.225002.

Refractive Index Seen by a Probe Beam Interacting with a Laser-Plasma System.

We report the first complete set of measurements of a laser-plasma optical system's refractive index, as seen by a second probe laser beam, as a function of the relative wavelength shift between the two laser beams. Both the imaginary and real refractive index components are found to be in good agreement with linear theory using plasma parameters measured by optical Thomson scattering and interferometry; the former is in contrast to previous work and has implications for crossed-beam energy transfer in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion, and the latter is measured for the first time. The data include the first demonstration of a laser-plasma polarizer with 85%-87% extinction for the particular laser and plasma parameters used in this experiment, complementing the existing suite of high-power, tunable, and ultrafast plasma-based photonic devices.

Development of Improved Radiation Drive Environment for High Foot Implosions at the National Ignition Facility.

Analyses of high foot implosions show that performance is limited by the radiation drive environment, i.e., the hohlraum. Reported here are significant improvements in the radiation environment, which result in an enhancement in implosion performance. Using a longer, larger case-to-capsule ratio hohlraum at lower gas fill density improves the symmetry control of a high foot implosion. Moreover, for the first time, these hohlraums produce reduced levels of hot electrons, generated by laser-plasma interactions, which are at levels comparable to near-vacuum hohlraums, and well within specifications. Further, there is a noteworthy increase in laser energy coupling to the hohlraum, and discrepancies with simulated radiation production are markedly reduced. At fixed laser energy, high foot implosions driven with this improved hohlraum have achieved a 1.4×increase in stagnation pressure, with an accompanying relative increase in fusion yield of 50% as compared to a reference experiment with the same laser energy.

High-intensity laser-accelerated ion beam produced from cryogenic micro-jet target.

We report on the successful operation of a newly developed cryogenic jet target at high intensity laser-irradiation. Using the frequency-doubled Titan short pulse laser system at Jupiter Laser Facility, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we demonstrate the generation of a pure proton beam a with maximum energy of 2 MeV. Furthermore, we record a quasi-monoenergetic peak at 1.1 MeV in the proton spectrum emitted in the laser forward direction suggesting an alternative acceleration mechanism. Using a solid-density mixed hydrogen-deuterium target, we are also able to produce pure proton-deuteron ion beams. With its high purity, limited size, near-critical density, and high-repetition rate capability, this target is promising for future applications.

High Power Dynamic Polarization Control Using Plasma Photonics.

We report the first experimental demonstration of a plasma wave plate based on laser-induced birefringence. An elliptically polarized input was converted into a nearly ideal circularly polarized beam using an optical system composed of a second laser beam and a plasma. The results are in excellent agreement with linear theory and three-dimensional simulations up to phase delays exceeding π/4, thus establishing the feasibility of laser-plasma photonic devices that are ultrafast, damage-resistant, and easily tunable.

CR-39 track detector calibration for H, He, and C ions from 0.1-0.5 MeV up to 5 MeV for laser-induced nuclear fusion product identification.

Laser-accelerated ion beams can be used in many applications and, especially, to initiate nuclear reactions out of thermal equilibrium. We have experimentally studied aneutronic fusion reactions induced by protons accelerated by the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration mechanism, colliding with a boron target. Such experiments require a rigorous method to identify the reaction products (alpha particles) collected in detectors among a few other ion species such as protons or carbon ions, for example. CR-39 track detectors are widely used because they are mostly sensitive to ions and their efficiency is near 100%. We present a complete calibration of CR-39 track detector for protons, alpha particles, and carbon ions. We give measurements of their track diameters for energy ranging from hundreds of keV to a few MeV and for etching times between 1 and 8 h. We used these results to identify alpha particles in our experiments on proton-boron fusion reactions initiated by laser-accelerated protons. We show that their number clearly increases when the boron fuel is preformed in a plasma state.

Laser light triggers increased Raman amplification in the regime of nonlinear Landau damping.

Stimulated Raman backscattering (SRS) has many unwanted effects in megajoule-scale inertially confined fusion (ICF) plasmas. Moreover, attempts to harness SRS to amplify short laser pulses through backward Raman amplification have achieved limited success. In high-temperature fusion plasmas, SRS usually occurs in a kinetic regime where the nonlinear response of the Langmuir wave to the laser drive and its host of complicating factors make it difficult to predict the degree of amplification that can be achieved under given experimental conditions. Here we present experimental evidence of reduced Landau damping with increasing Langmuir wave amplitude and determine its effects on Raman amplification. The threshold for trapping effects to influence the amplification is shown to be very low. Above threshold, the complex SRS dynamics results in increased amplification factors, which partly explains previous ICF experiments. These insights could aid the development of more efficient backward Raman amplification schemes in this regime.

Fusion reactions initiated by laser-accelerated particle beams in a laser-produced plasma.

The advent of high-intensity-pulsed laser technology enables the generation of extreme states of matter under conditions that are far from thermal equilibrium. This in turn could enable different approaches to generating energy from nuclear fusion. Relaxing the equilibrium requirement could widen the range of isotopes used in fusion fuels permitting cleaner and less hazardous reactions that do not produce high-energy neutrons. Here we propose and implement a means to drive fusion reactions between protons and boron-11 nuclei by colliding a laser-accelerated proton beam with a laser-generated boron plasma. We report proton-boron reaction rates that are orders of magnitude higher than those reported previously. Beyond fusion, our approach demonstrates a new means for exploring low-energy nuclear reactions such as those that occur in astrophysical plasmas and related environments.

Experimental approach to interaction physics challenges of the shock ignition scheme using short pulse lasers.

An experimental program was designed to study the most important issues of laser-plasma interaction physics in the context of the shock ignition scheme. In the new experiments presented in this Letter, a combination of kilojoule and short laser pulses was used to study the laser-plasma coupling at high laser intensities for a large range of electron densities and plasma profiles. We find that the backscatter is dominated by stimulated Brillouin scattering with stimulated Raman scattering staying at a limited level. This is in agreement with past experiments using long pulses but laser intensities limited to 2×10(15) W/cm2, or short pulses with intensities up to 5×10(16) W/cm2 as well as with 2D particle-in-cell simulations.