Longfei Jing

Angular radiation temperature simulation for time-dependent capsule drive prediction in inertial confinement fusion

The x-ray drive on a capsule in an inertial confinement fusion setup is crucial for ignition. Unfortunately, a direct measurement has not been possible so far. We propose an angular radiation temperature simulation to predict the time-dependent drive on the capsule. A simple model, based on the view-factor method for the simulation of the radiation temperature, is presented and compared with the experimental data obtained using the OMEGA laser facility and the simulation results acquired with VISRAD code. We found a good agreement between the time-dependent measurements and the simulation results obtained using this model. The validated model was then used to analyze the experimental results from the Shenguang-III prototype laser facility. More specifically, the variations of the peak radiation temperatures at different view angles with the albedo of the hohlraum, the motion of the laser spots, the closure of the laser entrance holes, and the deviation of the laser power were investigated. Furthermore, the time-dependent radiation temperature at different orientations and the drive history on the capsule were calculated. The results indicate that the radiation temperature from “U20W112” (named according to the diagnostic hole ID on the target chamber) can be used to approximately predict the drive temperature on the capsule. In addition, the influence of the capsule on the peak radiation temperature is also presented.

Novel free-form hohlraum shape design and optimization for laser-driven inertial confinement fusion

The hohlraum shape attracts considerable attention because there is no successful ignition method for laser-driven inertial confinement fusion at the National Ignition Facility. The available hohlraums are typically designed with simple conic curves, including ellipses, parabolas, arcs, or Lame curves, which allow only a few design parameters for the shape optimization, making it difficult to improve the performance, e.g., the energy coupling efficiency or radiation drive symmetry. A novel free-form hohlraum design and optimization approach based on the non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) model is proposed. In the present study, (1) all kinds of hohlraum shapes can be uniformly represented using NURBS, which is greatly beneficial for obtaining the optimal available hohlraum shapes, and (2) such free-form uniform representation enables us to obtain an optimal shape over a large design domain for the hohlraum with a more uniform radiation and higher drive temperature of the fuel capsule. Finally, a ho...

A novel three-axis cylindrical hohlraum designed for inertial confinement fusion ignition.

A novel ignition hohlraum for indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion is proposed, which is named three-axis cylindrical hohlraum (TACH). TACH is a kind of 6 laser entrance holes (LEHs) hohlraum, which is orthogonally jointed of three cylindrical hohlraums. Laser beams are injected through every entrance hole with the same incident angle of 55°. A view-factor simulation result shows that the time-varying drive asymmetry of TACH is less than 1.0% in the whole drive pulse period without any supplementary technology. Coupling efficiency of TACH is close to that of 6 LEHs spherical hohlraum with corresponding size. Its plasma-filling time is close to that of typical cylindrical ignition hohlraum. Its laser plasma interaction has as low backscattering as the outer cone of the cylindrical ignition hohlraum. Therefore, TACH combines most advantages of various hohlraums and has little predictable risk, providing an important competitive candidate for ignition hohlraum.

A unified free-form representation applied to the shape optimization of the hohlraum with octahedral 6 laser entrance holes

The hohlraum is very crucial for indirect laser driven Inertial Confinement Fusion. Usually, its shape is designed as sphere, cylinder, or rugby with some kind of fixed functions, such as ellipse or parabola. Recently, a spherical hohlraum with octahedral 6 laser entrance holes (LEHs) has been presented with high flux symmetry [Lan et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 010704 (2014); 21, 052704 (2014)]. However, there is only one shape parameter, i.e., the hohlraum to capsule radius ratio, being optimized. In this paper, we build the hohlraum with octahedral 6LEHs with a unified free-form representation, in which, by varying additional shape parameters: (1) available hohlraum shapes can be uniformly and accurately represented, (2) it can be used to understand why the spherical hohlraum has higher flux symmetry, (3) it allows us to obtain a feasible shape design field satisfying flux symmetry constraints, and (4) a synthetically optimized hohlraum can be obtained with a tradeoff of flux symmetry and other hohlraum per...

Reducing wall plasma expansion with gold foam irradiated by laser

The experimental study on the expanding plasma movement of low-density gold foam (∼1% solid density) irradiated by a high power laser is reported in this paper. Experiments were conducted using the SG-III prototype laser. Compared to solid gold with 19.3 g/cc density, the velocities of X-ray emission fronts moving off the wall are much smaller for gold foam with 0.3 g/cc density. Theoretical analysis and MULTI 1D simulation results also show less plasma blow-off, and that the density contour movement velocities of gold foam are smaller than those of solid gold, agreeing with experimental results. These results indicate that foam walls have advantages in symmetry control and lowering plasma fill when used in ignition hohlraum.

Demonstration of enhancement of x-ray flux with foam gold compared to solid gold

Experiments have been conducted to compare the re-emission from foam gold with a 0.3 g cc−1 density and solid gold in a SGIII prototype laser facility. Measurements of the re-emission x-ray flux demonstrate that emission is enhanced by the low density foam gold compared to the solid gold under the same conditions. The emission fraction increases with time and is concentrated on soft x-ray flux between 0.1–1 keV. The simulation results with Multi 1D agree with the experimental results. There are potential advantages to using foam walls for improving the emission and soft x-ray flux in hohlraums.

Fluorescence based imaging for M-band drive symmetry measurement in hohlraum

We describe an experimental technique to measure the drive symmetry of M-band radiation on the capsule in hohlraum. M-band radiation from the corona of the laser-produced gold plasma, especially the laser spot regions in the cavity, was used to pump x-ray fluorescence of a thin layer of Si-tracer coated on a solid CH-ball. The fluorescence images were time resolvedly recorded by an x-ray framing camera and the drive asymmetry due to M-band radiation was deduced from these fluorescence images. Moreover, a Si-doped gold cavity was used with the initial purpose of maximizing the fluorescence signal through resonance transitions. Since the Si-plasma expands more rapidly than the gold-plasma, the evolution of drive asymmetry was accelerated in Si-doped hohlraum.

Comparing the soft x-rays transport in Si and Ge-sandwich targets by measuring transmission flux

Mid-Z dopant in ablator is very important in point design targets. In this paper, we develop a method to evaluate the soft x-ray transport of doped material with one dimensional planar target. The targets are designed as sandwich, so that the mid-layer is heated by M band, shock and thermal wave. The transmission fluxes from heated targets are measured with band-pass x-ray diodes. The Si and Ge dopants are evaluated with this method. The experimental results show that 1–1.6 keV x-ray transmission flux through Si-sandwich is higher than that through Ge-sandwich all the time. Also, the comparison of opacities shows that the opacity of Si is lower than that of Ge in the range of 1–1.6 keV, which is consistent with the experimental results.

Multiple angle measurement and modeling of M-band x-ray fluxes from vacuum hohlraum

The energetics experiment of vacuum gold hohlraums is implemented on the Shenguang-II laser facility. The total and M-band x-ray fluxes from the laser entrance holes are measured by the flat response x-ray diodes which are set at multiple angles with respect to the axis of the hohlraums. The measured M-band fractions are from 5.72% to 7.71%, which present a specific angular distribution. Based on the fact that the M-band x-rays are mainly emitted from the under-dense high-temperature plasmas, a simplified model is developed to give a quantitative prediction of the intensity, temporal behavior, and angular distribution of the M-band x-ray flux. The results obtained with our model are in good agreement with the experimental data, showing that our model can be a useful tool for M-band x-ray investigation.

A spherical hohlraum design with tetrahedral 4 laser entrance holes and high radiation performance

As usual cylindrical hohlraum with double laser ring cones may lead to serious laser-plasma interaction, such as the simulated Raman scatter and cross-beam energy transfer effect, spherical hohlraum with octahedral 6 Laser Entrance Holes (LEHs) and single cone laser beams, was investigated and reported to have a consistent high radiation symmetry during the whole implosion process. However, it has several potential challenges such as the smaller space left for diagnosis and the assembly of centrally located capsule. In this paper, based on the view-factor model, we investigate the radiation symmetry and the drive temperature on the capsule located in the spherical hohlraum with tetrahedral 4 LEHs and single cone laser beams, since there is more available space for laser disposition and diagnosis. Then, such target is optimized on the laser beam pointing direction to achieve a high radiation performance, i.e., the radiation symmetry and drive temperature on the capsule. Finally, an optimal spherical hohlra...