Spatial filter pinhole development for the national ignition facility.

We present results from a major experimental effort to understand the behavior of spatial filter pinholes and to identify and demonstrate a pinhole that will meet the requirements of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). We find that pinhole performance depends significantly on geometry and material. Cone pinholes are found to stay open longer and to cause less backreflection than pinholes of more conventional geometry.

Z-Beamlet: a multikilojoule, terawatt-class laser system.

A large-aperture (30-cm) kilojoule-class Nd:glass laser system known as Z-Beamlet has been constructed to perform x-ray radiography of high-energy-density science experiments conducted on the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The laser, operating with typical pulse durations from 0.3 to 1.

Symmetric inertial-confinement-fusion-capsule implosions in a double-z-pinch-driven hohlraum.

An inertial-confinement-fusion (ICF) concept using two 60-MA Z pinches to drive a cylindrical hohlraum to 220 eV has been recently proposed. The first capsule implosions relevant to this concept have been performed at the same physical scale with a lower 20-MA current, yielding a 70+/-5 eV capsule drive. The capsule shell shape implies a polar radiation symmetry, the first high-accuracy measurement of this type in a pulsed-power-driven ICF configuration, within a factor of 1.