Yield degradation due to laser drive asymmetry in DHe backlit proton radiography experiments at OMEGA.

Mono-energetic proton radiography is a vital diagnostic for numerous high-energy-density-physics, inertial-confinement-fusion, and laboratory-astrophysics experiments at OMEGA. With a large number of campaigns executing hundreds of shots, general trends in DHe backlighter performance are statistically observed. Each experimental configuration uses a different number of beams and drive symmetry, causing the backlighter to perform differently. Here, we analyze the impact of these variables on the overall performance of the DHe backlighter for proton-radiography studies. This study finds that increasing laser drive asymmetry can degrade the performance of the DHe backlighter. The results of this study can be used to help experimental designs that use proton radiography.