Progress in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion research at the laboratory for laser energetics

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is expected to demonstrate high gain on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the next decade and is a leading candidate for inertial fusion energy production. The demonstration of high areal densities in hydrodynamically scaled cryogenic DT or D₂ implosions with neutron yields that are a significant fraction of the “clean” 1-D predictions will validate the ignition-equivalent direct-drive target performance on the OMEGA laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). This paper highlights the recent experimental and theoretical progress leading toward achieving this validation in the next few years. The NIF will initially be configured for X-ray drive and with no beams placed at the target equator to provide a symmetric irradiation of a direct-drive capsule. LLE is developing the “polar-direct-drive” (PDD) approach that repoints beams toward the target equator. Initial 2-D simulations have shown ignition. A unique “Saturn-like” plastic ring around the equator refracts the laser light incident near the equator toward the target, improving the drive uniformity. LLE is currently constructing the multibeam, 2.6-kJ/beam, petawatt laser system OMEGA EP. Integrated fast-ignition experiments, combining the OMEGA EP and OMEGA Laser Systems, will begin in FY08.     

Role of hot-electron preheating in the compression of direct-drive imploding targets with cryogenic D2 ablators

The compression of direct-drive, spherical implosions is studied using cryogenic D2 targets on the 60-beam, 351-nm OMEGA laser with intensities ranging from approximately 3x10(14) to approximately 1x10(15) W/cm2. The hard-x-ray signal from hot electrons generated by laser-plasma instabilities increases with laser intensity, while the areal density decreases. Mitigating hot-electron production, by reducing the laser intensity to approximately 3x10(14) W/cm2, results in areal density of the order of approximately 140 mg/cm2, in good agreement with 1D simulations. These results will be considered in future direct-drive-ignition designs.     

Increasing hydrodynamic efficiency by reducing cross-beam energy transfer in direct-drive-implosion experiments

A series of experiments to determine the optimum laser-beam radius by balancing the reduction of cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) with increased illumination nonuniformities shows that the hydrodynamic efficiency is increased by ～35%, which leads to a factor of 2.6 increase in the neutron yield when the laser-spot size is reduced by 20%. Over this range, the absorption is measured to increase by 15%, resulting in a 17% increase in the implosion velocity and a 10% earlier bang time. When reducing the ratio of laser-spot size to a target radius below 0.8, the rms amplitudes of the nonuniformities imposed by the smaller laser spots are measured at a convergence ratio of 2.5 to exceed 8 μm and the neutron yield saturates despite increasing absorbed energy, implosion velocity, and decreasing bang time. The results agree well with hydrodynamic simulations that include both nonlocal and CBET models.     

Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation photoelectron spectroscopy of the ClO radical: the C 2 sigma- state

A (2 + 1) one-colour resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation study is carried out on the C 2 sigma- state of the ClO radical in the one-photon energy range 29,500-31,250 cm-1. The ClO radical is produced by one-photon photolysis of ClO2 employing 359.2 nm photons derived from a separate laser. In this way a significant concentration of vibrationally excited ClO in its spin-orbit split X 2 pi omega (omega = 3/2 or 1/2) electronic ground state is produced. In addition to mass-resolved excitation spectra, kinetic-energy resolved photoelectron spectra for the X 3 sigma-(v+)<--C 2 sigma-(v' = 3-5) transitions are measured. These transitions are not completely Frank-Condon diagonal, and indicate a decrease in bond length on removal of the Rydberg electron from the C 2 sigma- state. In addition to an unambiguous assignment of the C 2 sigma- state, valuable information is obtained on the degree of vibrational excitation with which the nascent ClO radical is formed in the photolysis of ClO2. Analysis of the photoelectron spectra is supported by Franck-Condon calculations based on potential energy curves either from experimental spectroscopic parameters, or obtained by theoretical ab initio methods.     

Photoelastic determination of stresses in multiple-pin connectors

The design, fabrication, and testing of photoelastic models of double-lap, multiple-pin connectors are discussed. Interest is in the stresses in the inner laps. These stresses are determined by constructing models with photoelastic inner laps and transparent-acrylic outer laps. The connectors have two pins, in tandem, parallel to the load direction. A photoelastic-isotropic point is shown to permit the evaluation of load sharing between the two pins. A numerical scheme, utilizing the isochromatic- and isoclinic-photoelastic data and a finite-difference representation of the planestress equilibrium equations, is used to compute the stresses around the two pins. Representative stress distributions and stress-concentration factors are shown.     

High energy xps using a monochromated Ag Lα source: resolution,sensitivity and photoelectric cross sections

Resolution, sensitivity and calibration data are presented for a novel high energy XPS source, monochromated Ag Lα radiation (hv = 2984.3 eV). Adequate resolution is attainable for good signal/noise spectra, whilst values for experimental sensitivity factors agree well with theoretical cross section values calculated by Nefedov. This allows an evaluation of ESCA 3 Mk. II transmission function up to 3000 eV, which appears to obey an approximate E^{$\text{?1}\text{2}$} dependence. Monochromated Ag Lα (linewidth 1.3 eV) overcomes the problem of broad natural linewidths for high energy sources, such that chemical state information can be gained. Various new core level and Auger peaks are developed, a notable feature being the 1s core level and KLL Auger transition capability from Al through to Cl. Improved sensitivity is experienced for elements whose major peaks occur in the 1500–3000 eV BE range, whilst there is no serious reduction of sensitivity in the conventional XPS energy range.     

Phage display-derived inhibitor of the essential cell wall biosynthesis enzyme MurF

Background  

To develop antibacterial agents having novel modes of action against bacterial cell wall biosynthesis, we targeted the essential MurF enzyme of the antibiotic resistant pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. MurF catalyzes the formation of a peptide bond between D-Alanyl-D-Alanine (D-Ala-D-Ala) and the cell wall precursor uridine 5'-diphosphoryl N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid (UDP-MurNAc-Ala-Glu-meso-A2pm) with the concomitant hydrolysis of ATP to ADP and inorganic phosphate, yielding UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide. As MurF acts on a dipeptide, we exploited a phage display approach to identify peptide ligands having high binding affinities for the enzyme.     

High-areal-density fuel assembly in direct-drive cryogenic implosions

The first observation of ignition-relevant areal-density deuterium from implosions of capsules with cryogenic fuel layers at ignition-relevant adiabats is reported. The experiments were performed on the 60-beam, 30-kJUV OMEGA Laser System [T. R. Boehly, Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)10.1016/S0030-4018(96)00325-2]. Neutron-averaged areal densities of 202+/-7 mg/cm2 and 182+/-7 mg/cm2 (corresponding to estimated peak fuel densities in excess of 100 g/cm3) were inferred using an 18-kJ direct-drive pulse designed to put the converging fuel on an adiabat of 2.5. These areal densities are in good agreement with the predictions of hydrodynamic simulations indicating that the fuel adiabat can be accurately controlled under ignition-relevant conditions.