Dan S. Nielsen

High Temperature Dynamic Hohlraums on the Pulsed Power Driver Z

In the concept of the dynamic hohlraum an imploding Z pinch is optically thick to its own radiation. Radiation may be trapped inside the pinch to give a radiation temperature inside the pinch greater than that outside the pinch. The radiation is typically produced by colliding an outer Z-pinch liner onto an inner liner. The collision generates a strongly radiating shock, and the radiation is trapped by the outer liner. As the implosion continues after the collision, the radiation temperature may continue to increase due to ongoing PdV (pressure times change in volume) work done by the implosion. In principal, the radiation temperature may increase to the point at which the outer liner burns through, becomes optically thin, and no longer traps the radiation. One application of the dynamic hohlraum is to drive an ICF (inertial confinement fusion) pellet with the trapped radiation field. Members of the dynamic hohlraum team at Sandia National Labs have used the pulsed power driver Z (20 MA, 100 ns) to create...

Dynamic hohlraum radiation hydrodynamics

Z-pinch dynamic hohlraums are a promising indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion approach. Comparison of multiple experimental methods with integrated Z-pinch∕hohlraum∕capsule computer simulations builds understanding of the hohlraum interior conditions. Time-resolved x-ray images determine the motion of the radiating shock that heats the hohlraum as it propagates toward the hohlraum axis. The images also measure the radius of radiation-driven capsules as they implode. Dynamic hohlraum LASNEX [G. Zimmerman and W. Kruer, Comments Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 2, 85 (1975)] simulations are found to overpredict the shock velocity by ∼20–40%, but simulated capsule implosion trajectories agree reasonably well with the data. Measurements of the capsule implosion core conditions using time- and space-resolved Ar tracer x-ray spectroscopy and the fusion neutron yield provide additional tests of the integrated hohlraum-implosion system understanding. The neutron yield in the highest performing CH capsule implos...

Energy dependent sensitivity of microchannel plate detectors

Understanding of microchannel plate (MCP) detectors with x-ray energy is important for applications in high energy density research such as broadband imaging and x-ray spectroscopy. The relative sensitivity with photon energy for Cu∕Au coated MCPs in the range of 250eV<hν<5000eV has been measured at the National Synchrotron Light Source. A model of this response that includes contributions from secondary photoelectron yield and interactions with multiple channels is presented. This model is shown to agree with the measured MCP response to <20% over the majority of the spectral range using cross sections determined from an independent analysis of the MCP glass composition.

Opacity measurements of tamped NaBr samples heated by z-pinch X-rays

Abstract Laboratory measurements provide benchmark data for wavelength-dependent plasma opacities to assist inertial confinement fusion, astrophysics, and atomic physics research. There are several potential benefits to using z-pinch radiation for opacity measurements, including relatively large cm-scale lateral sample sizes and relatively-long 3– 5 ns experiment durations. These features enhance sample uniformity. The spectrally resolved transmission through a CH-tamped NaBr foil was measured. The z-pinch produced the X-rays for both the heating source and backlight source. The (50±4) eV foil electron temperature and (3±1)×10 21 cm −3 foil electron density were determined by analysis of the Na absorption features. LTE and NLTE opacity model calculations of the n=2 to 3, 4 transitions in bromine ionized into the M-shell are in reasonably good agreement with the data.

Comparison of a copper foil to a copper wire-array Z pinch at 18 MA

Results from the first solid foil implosion on the 18-MA Z accelerator are reported. The foil implosion is compared to a 300-wire-array implosion with the same material and the same diameter, height, and total mass. Though both the foil and the array produced comparable x-ray yields, the array’s radiation burst was twice as powerful and half as long as the foil’s. These data along with x-ray backlighting images and inductance measurements suggest that the foil implosion was more unstable than the wire-array implosion.

Multicolor, time-gated, soft x-ray pinhole imaging of wire array and gas puff Z pinches on the Z and Saturn pulsed power generators.

A multicolor, time-gated, soft x-ray pinhole imaging instrument is fielded as part of the core diagnostic set on the 25 MA Z machine [M. E. Savage et al., in Proceedings of the Pulsed Power Plasma Sciences Conference (IEEE, New York, 2007), p. 979] for studying intense wire array and gas puff Z-pinch soft x-ray sources. Pinhole images are reflected from a planar multilayer mirror, passing 277 eV photons with <10 eV bandwidth. An adjacent pinhole camera uses filtration alone to view 1-10 keV photons simultaneously. Overlaying these data provides composite images that contain both spectral as well as spatial information, allowing for the study of radiation production in dense Z-pinch plasmas. Cu wire arrays at 20 MA on Z show the implosion of a colder cloud of material onto a hot dense core where K-shell photons are excited. A 528 eV imaging configuration has been developed on the 8 MA Saturn generator [R. B. Spielman et al., and A. I. P. Conf, Proc. 195, 3 (1989)] for imaging a bright Li-like Ar L-shell line. Ar gas puff Z pinches show an intense K-shell emission from a zippering stagnation front with L-shell emission dominating as the plasma cools.

Current scaling of radiated power for 40-mm diameter single wire arrays on Z

In order to estimate the radiated power that can be expected from the next-generation Z-pinch driver such as ZR at 28 MA, current-scaling experiments have been conducted on the 20 MA driver Z. We report on the current scaling of single 40 mm diameter tungsten 240 wire arrays with a fixed 110 ns implosion time. The wire diameter is decreased in proportion to the load current. Reducing the charge voltage on the Marx banks reduces the load current. On one shot, firing only three of the four levels of the Z machine further reduced the load current. The radiated energy scaled as the current squared as expected but the radiated power scaled as the current to the 3.52±0.42 power due to increased x-ray pulse width at lower current. As the current is reduced, the rise time of the x-ray pulse increases and at the lowest current value of 10.4 MA, a shoulder appears on the leading edge of the x-ray pulse. In order to determine the nature of the plasma producing the leading edge of the x-ray pulse at low currents furt...

Bottom axial diagnostic package on Z

A bottom axial diagnostic package has recently been developed and fielded on the 100 ns, 20 MA pinch-driver Z. The bottom package was developed to measure the power radiated to the bottom of Z and compare it to the power radiated to the top of Z on dynamic hohlraum pinch loads. When an up/down power asymmetry was measured, the bottom package was expanded in an effort to determine the source of the asymmetry. The bottom package contains one port directly on axis, six ports at 3.4° to the axis, and four ports at 9° to the axis. Typical diagnostics fielded on the bottom package are a time-resolved pinhole camera, time-integrated spatially resolved convex crystal spectrometers, a time-resolved crystal spectrometer, x-ray diodes, bolometers, and photoconducting detectors. We will present some typical data from these bottom diagnostics on dynamic hohlraum shots on Z and briefly discuss their relevance to the up/down power asymmetry.

Time-resolved x-ray pinhole camera with grazing incidence mirror to eliminate bremsstrahlung noise signal on Z

An on-axis time-resolved x-ray pinhole camera has been used on the 20MA 100ns driver Z to image the converging shock wave in dynamic Hohlraum experiments and to image pellet hot spots in inertial confinement fusion implosions. This instrument is susceptible to detecting significant amounts of pinch bremsstrahlung radiation with energies at hundreds of keV and yields of roughly 1kJ. Quite often the bremsstrahlung noise signals have overwhelmed the desired x-ray images. In an effort to eliminate this large source of noise we have incorporated a 6° gold-coated grazing incidence mirror into the time-resolved x-ray pinhole camera system. The mirror reflects soft x rays at energies under 2keV but does not reflect bremsstrahlung radiation at hundreds of keV. We will present data from the instrument without the mirror showing large amounts of bremsstrahlung noise contamination and data with the mirror in the system showing greatly reduced noise levels.

Pinned optically-aligned diagnostic dock for use on the Z facility.

The pinned optically aligned diagnostic dock (PODD) is a multi-configuration diagnostic platform designed to measure x-ray emission on the Z facility. The PODD houses two plasma emission acquisition (PEA) systems, which are aligned with a set of precision machined pins. The PEA systems are modular, allowing a single diagnostic housing to support several different diagnostics. The PEA configurations fielded to date include both time-resolved and time-integrated, 1D spatially resolving, elliptical crystal spectrometers, and time-integrated, 1D spatially resolving, convex crystal spectrometers. Additional proposed configurations include time-resolved, monochromatic mirrored pinhole imagers and arrays of filtered x-ray diodes, diamond photo-conducting diode detectors, and bolometers. The versatility of the PODD system will allow the diagnostic configuration of the Z facility to be changed without significantly adding to the turn-around time of the machine. Additionally, the PODD has been designed to allow instrument setup to be completed entirely off-line, leaving only a refined alignment process to be performed just prior to a shot, which is a significant improvement over the instrument the PODD replaces. Example data collected with the PODD are presented.