Dynamics and Power Balance of Near Unity Target Gain Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions.

The change in the power balance, temporal dynamics, emission weighted size, temperature, mass, and areal density of inertially confined fusion plasmas have been quantified for experiments that reach target gains up to 0.72. It is observed that as the target gain rises, increased rates of self-heating initially overcome expansion power losses. This leads to reacting plasmas that reach peak fusion production at later times with increased size, temperature, mass and with lower emission weighted areal densities. Analytic models are consistent with the observations and inferences for how these quantities evolve as the rate of fusion self-heating, fusion yield, and target gain increase. At peak fusion production, it is found that as temperatures and target gains rise, the expansion power loss increases to a near constant ratio of the fusion self-heating power. This is consistent with models that indicate that the expansion losses dominate the dynamics in this regime.

Observation of Hydrodynamic Flows in Imploding Fusion Plasmas on the National Ignition Facility.

Inertial confinement fusion implosions designed to have minimal fluid motion at peak compression often show significant linear flows in the laboratory, attributable per simulations to percent-level imbalances in the laser drive illumination symmetry. We present experimental results which intentionally varied the mode 1 drive imbalance by up to 4% to test hydrodynamic predictions of flows and the resultant imploded core asymmetries and performance, as measured by a combination of DT neutron spectroscopy and high-resolution x-ray core imaging. Neutron yields decrease by up to 50%, and anisotropic neutron Doppler broadening increases by 20%, in agreement with simulations. Furthermore, a tracer jet from the capsule fill-tube perturbation that is entrained by the hot-spot flow confirms the average flow speeds deduced from neutron spectroscopy.

Optimization of the gamma reaction history diagnostic for double-shell pusher areal density and reaction history measurements on the National Ignition Facility.

The double-shell inertial confinement fusion campaign, which consists of an aluminum ablator, a foam cushion, a high-Z pusher (tungsten or molybdenum), and liquid deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel, aims for its first DT filled implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in 2024. The high-Z, high density pusher does not allow x-rays to escape the double-shell capsule. Therefore, nuclear diagnostics such as the Gamma Reaction History (GRH) diagnostic on the NIF are crucial for understanding high-Z implosion performance. To optimize the GRH measurement of fusion reaction history and the pusher's areal density, the MCNP6.3-based forward model of the detector was built. When calculating the neutron-induced inelastic gamma ray production, the interaction of neutrons with the compressed fuel was additionally included. By folding the calculated gamma ray spectrum output and the previously calibrated GRH detector responses, the optimum set of GRH energy thresholds for measuring the pusher areal density is determined to be 2.9 and 6.3 MeV for DT double-shell experiments. In addition, the effect of the down-scattering of neutrons on the gamma ray spectrum, the minimum required yield for measurements, and the attenuation of the gamma rays through the pusher are analyzed.

Relative sensitivity of plastic scintillator: A comparative analysis with 60Co gamma rays, deuterium-deuterium, and deuterium-tritium neutrons.

A plastic scintillator has found extensive application in the realm of high-energy physics and national security science. Many applications in those fields often involve the simultaneous production of photons, neutrons, and charged particles, which makes the relative sensitivity information for these different radiation types important. In this study, we have adopted a multi-head detector comprised of a plastic scintillator and high gain phototubes, which provides a large dynamic range and linearity. A comparative study on the relative sensitivities of plastic scintillators was facilitated by adopting three distinct radiation calibration sources (i.e., 60Co γ rays, DD neutrons, and DT neutrons). Neutrons from a DD source generate a comparable level of scintillation to gamma rays emitted by 60Co (i.e., 60Co-γ/DD-n = 0.92 ± 16%). DT neutrons induce ∼3.5 times the scintillation observed with DD neutrons (i.e., DT-n/DD-n = 3.5 ± 28%). In addition, the Geant4 simulation granted us valuable insights into the relative sensitivity of the scintillator. This comparative study will provide a useful database for users in diverse applications.

A combined MeV-neutron and x-ray source for the National Ignition Facility.

In support of future radiation-effects testing, a combined environment source has been developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), utilizing both NIF's long-pulse beams, and the Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) short pulse lasers. First, ARC was used to illuminate a gold foil at high-intensity, generating a significant x-ray signal >1 MeV. This was followed by NIF 10 ns later to implode an exploding pusher target filled with fusionable gas for neutron generation. The neutron and x-ray bursts were incident onto a retrievable, close-standoff diagnostic snout. With separate control over both neutron and x-ray emission, the platform allows for tailored photon and neutron fluences and timing on a recoverable test sample. The platform exceeded its initial fluence goals, demonstrating a neutron fluence of 2.3 ×1013 n/cm2 and an x-ray dose of 7 krad.

Design of multi neutron-to-gamma converter array for measuring time resolved ion temperature of inertial confinement fusion implosions.

The ion temperature varying during inertial confinement fusion implosions changes the amount of Doppler broadening of the fusion products, creating subtle changes in the fusion neutron pulse as it moves away from the implosion. A diagnostic design to try to measure these subtle effects is introduced-leveraging the fast time resolution of gas Cherenkov detectors along with a multi-puck array that converts a small amount of the neutron pulse into gamma-rays, one can measure multiple snapshots of the neutron pulse at intermediate distances. Precise measurements of the propagating neutron pulse, specifically the variation in the peak location and the skew, could be used to infer time-evolved ion temperature evolved during peak compression.

Diagnostic signature of the compressibility of the inertial-confinement-fusion pusher.

Carbon shell areal density measurements from many types of inertial confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) demonstrate that the final state of the outside portion of the shell is set primarily by capsule coast time, the coasting period between main laser shut off and peak fusion output. However, the fuel areal density does not correlate with the increasing carbon compression. While two-dimensional (2D) radiation-hydrodynamic simulations successfully capture the carbon compression, energy must be added to the simulated fuel-ice layer to reproduce fuel areal density measurements. The data presented demonstrates that the degradation mechanisms that reduce the compressibility of the fuel do not reduce the compressibility of the ablator.

Solid Cherenkov detector for studying nucleosynthesis in inertial confinement fusion.

Measuring gamma rays emitted from nuclear reactions gives insight into their nuclear structure. Notably, there are several nuclear reactions that produce gamma rays at ∼1 MeV-3 MeV energies such as T(4He, γ)7Li, 4He(3He, γ)7Be, and 12C(p, γ)13N, which may solve questions lingering about big-bang nucleosynthesis and stellar nucleosynthesis. To observe 1 MeV-3 MeV gamma rays in an inertial confinement fusion system, a new style of the Cherenkov detector was developed using aerogel and fused silica as a Cherenkov medium. Utilizing the OMEGA laser facility, both aerogel and fused silica media were compared with the existing gas-medium Cherenkov detector to validate the concept. Gamma ray measurements from high yield inertial confinement fusion implosions (deuterium-tritium and deuterium-3He) demonstrated that aerogel and fused silica were viable Cherenkov media, paving the way for a potential optimized detector to make these cross section measurements on OMEGA or the National Ignition Facility.

Improved inertial confinement fusion gamma reaction history 12C gamma-ray signal by direct subtraction.

The Gamma Reaction History (GRH) diagnostic located at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) measures time resolved gamma rays released from inertial confinement fusion experiments by converting the emitted gamma rays into Cherenkov light. Imploded capsules have a bright 4.4 MeV gamma ray from fusion neutrons inelastically scattering with carbon atoms in the remaining ablator. The strength of the 4.4 MeV gamma ray line is proportional to the capsule's carbon ablator areal density and can be used to understand the dynamics and energy budget of a carbon-based ablator capsule implosion. Historically, the GRH's four gas cells use the energy thresholding from the Cherenkov process to forward fit an estimation of the experiment's complete gamma ray spectrum by modeling the surrounding environment in order to estimate the 4.4 MeV neutron induced carbon gamma ray signal. However, the high number of variables, local minima, and uncertainties in detector sensitivities and relative timing had prevented the routine use of the forward fit to generate carbon areal density measurements. A new, more straightforward process of direct subtraction of deconvolved signals was developed to simplify the extraction of the carbon areal density. Beryllium capsules are used as a calibration to measure the capsule environment with no carbon signal. The proposed method is then used to appropriately subtract and isolate the carbon signal on shots with carbon ablators. The subtraction algorithm achieves good results across all major capsule campaigns, achieving similar results to the forward fit. This method is now routinely used to measure carbon areal density for NIF shots.

Characterization of the Mercury pulsed power x-ray source spectrum using multichannel density aerogel Cherenkov detectors.

The Aerogel Cherenkov Detector for Cygnus (ACD/C) is a time-dependent, x-ray spectral detector that uses SiO2 aerogels spanning an index of refraction (n = 1.02-1.07) corresponding to a 1.1-2.3 MeV x-ray energy threshold. The ACD/C was developed for pulsed power x-ray sources like Cygnus located at the Nevada National Site and Mercury located at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Aerogels sit between the measurement capabilities of gas (>2 MeV) and solids such as fused silica (>0.3 MeV). The detector uses an aluminum converter to Compton scatter incoming x-rays and create relativistic electrons, which produce Cherenkov light in an aerogel or a fused silica medium. The ACD/C was fielded at the NRL when Mercury was tuned to produce up to 4.8 MeV endpoint bremsstrahlung. Despite a high radiation and electromagnetic interference background, the ACD/C was able to achieve high signal over noise across five aerogel densities and fused silica, including a signal to noise for a 1.1 MeV aerogel threshold. Previous experiments at Cygnus observed a signal that was comparable to the noise (1×) at the same threshold. The ACD/C observed time-resolved rise and fall times for different energy thresholds of the photon spectrum. Monte Carlo simulations of the ACD/C's aerogel response curves were folded with a simulation of Mercury's photon energy spectrum and agree within the error to the observed result.

Progress on next generation gamma-ray Cherenkov detectors for the National Ignition Facility.

Fusion reaction history and ablator areal density measurements for Inertial Confinement Fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility are currently conducted using the Gamma Reaction History diagnostic (GRH_6m). Future Gas Cherenkov Detectors (GCDs) will ultimately provide ∼100x more sensitivity, reduce the effective temporal response from ∼100 to ∼10 ps, and lower the energy threshold from 2.9 to 1.8 MeV, relative to GRH_6m. The first phase toward next generation GCDs consisted of inserting the existing coaxial GCD-3 detector into a reentrant well which puts it within 4 m of the implosion. Reaction history and ablator gamma measurement results from this Phase I are discussed here. These results demonstrate viability for the follow-on Phases of (II) the use of a revolutionary new pulse-dilation photomultiplier tube to improve the effective measurement bandwidth by >10x relative to current PMT technology; and (III) the design of a NIF-specific "Super" GCD which will be informed by the assessment of the radiation background environment within the well described here.

ArI/ArII laser induced fluorescence system for measurement of neutral and ion dynamics in a large scale helicon plasma.

In order to investigate the role of both neutral and ion dynamics in large-scale helicon discharges, a laser induced fluorescence (LIF) system capable of measuring both ArI and ArII fluorescence using a single tunable laser is being developed. The system is based on a >250 mW solid state laser. For ArI measurements, the laser pumps the metastable (2P03/2)4s level to the (2P01/2)4p level using 696.7352 nm light, and fluorescence radiation from decay to the (2P01/2)4s level at 772.6333 nm is observed. For ArII, currently in development, the metastable (3P)3d 4F7/2 level will be pumped to the (3P)4p 4D07/2 level using 688.8511 nm, and decay fluorescence to the (3P)4s 4P5/2 level at 434.9285 nm measured. Here all wavelengths are in a vacuum.