Neutron imaging of the deuterium-tritium tamping gas volume in an inertial confinement fusion hohlraum.

To benchmark the accuracy of the models and improve the predictive capability of future experiments, the National Ignition Facility requires measurements of the physical conditions inside inertial confinement fusion hohlraums. The ion temperature and bulk motion velocity of the gas-filled regions of the hohlraum can be obtained by replacing the helium tamping gas in the hohlraum with deuterium-tritium (DT) gas and measuring the Doppler broadening and Doppler shift of the neutron spectrum produced by nuclear reactions in the hohlraum. To understand the spatial distribution of the neutron production inside the hohlraum, we have developed a new penumbral neutron imager with a 12 mm diameter field of view using a simple tungsten alloy spindle.

A 2-4 keV multilayer mirrored channel for the NIF Dante system.

During inertial confinement fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a capsule filled with deuterium and tritium (DT) gas, surrounded by a DT ice layer and a high-density carbon ablator, is driven to the temperature and densities required to initiate fusion. In the indirect method, 2 MJ of NIF laser light heats the inside of a gold hohlraum to a radiation temperature of 300 eV; thermal x rays from the hohlraum interior couple to the capsule and create a central hotspot at tens of millions degrees Kelvin and a density of 100-200 g/cm. During the laser interaction with the gold wall, m-band x rays are produced at ∼2.

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.

Upgrade of the gated laser entrance hole imager G-LEH-2 on the National Ignition Facility.

A major upgrade has been implemented for the ns-gated laser entrance hole imager on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to obtain high-quality data for Hohlraum physics study. In this upgrade, the single "Furi" hCMOS sensor (1024 × 448 pixel arrays with two-frame capability) is replaced with dual "Icarus" sensors (1024 × 512 pixel arrays with four-frame capability). Both types of sensors were developed by Sandia National Laboratories for high energy density physics experiments.