1. The first target experiments on the National Ignition Facility.
- Author
-
Landen, O. L., Glenzer, S. H., Froula, D. H., Dewald, E. L., Suter, L. J., Schneider, M. B., Hinkel, D. E., Fernandez, J. C., Kline, J. L., Goldman, S. R., Braun, D. G., Celliers, P. M., Moon, S. J., Robey, H. S., Lanier, N. E., Glendinning, S. G., Blue, B. E., Wilde, B. H., Jones, O. S., and Schein, J.
- Subjects
LASER-plasma interactions ,LASER beams ,INDUSTRIAL lasers - Abstract
A first set of shock timing, laser-plasma interaction, hohlraum energetics and hydrodynamic experiments have been performed using the first 4 beams of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), in support of indirect drive Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and High Energy Density Physics (HEDP). In parallel, a robust set of optical and X-ray spectrometers, interferometer, calorimeters and imagers have been activated. The experiments have been undertaken with laser powers and energies of up to 8 TW and 17 kJ in flattop and shaped 1–9 ns pulses focused with various beam smoothing options. The experiments have demonstrated excellent agreement between measured and predicted laser-target coupling in foils and hohlraums, even when extended to a longer pulse regime unattainable at previous laser facilities, validated the predicted effects of beam smoothing on intense laser beam propagation in long scale-length plasmas and begun to test 3D codes by extending the study of laser driven hydrodynamic jets to 3D geometries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF