Xiayu Zhan

Experimental demonstration of low laser-plasma instabilities in gas-filled spherical hohlraums at laser injection angle designed for ignition target

Octahedral spherical hohlraums with a single laser ring at an injection angle of 55^{∘} are attractive concepts for laser indirect drive due to the potential for achieving the x-ray drive symmetry required for high convergence implosions. Laser-plasma instabilities, however, are a concern given the long laser propagation path in such hohlraums. Significant stimulated Raman scattering has been observed in cylindrical hohlraums with similar laser propagation paths during the ignition campaign on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In this Rapid Communication, experiments demonstrating low levels of laser-driven plasma instability (LPI) in spherical hohlraums with a laser injection angle of 55^{∘} are reported and compared to that observed with cylindrical hohlraums with injection angles of 28.5^{∘} and 55^{∘}, similar to that of the NIF. Significant LPI is observed with the laser injection of 28.5^{∘} in the cylindrical hohlraum where the propagation path is similar to the 55^{∘} injection angle for the spherical hohlraum. The experiments are performed on the SGIII laser facility with a total 0.35-μm incident energy of 93 kJ in a 3 nsec pulse. These experiments demonstrate the role of hohlraum geometry in LPI and demonstrate the need for systematic experiments for choosing the optimal configuration for ignition studies with indirect drive inertial confinement fusion.

The radiation temperature and M-band fraction inside hohlraum on the SGIII-prototype laser facility

The radiation temperature TR and M-band fraction fM inside the vacuum Au hohlraum have been experimentally determined by a shock wave technique and a broadband soft x-ray spectrometer (SXS) on the SGIII-prototype laser facility. From the results of the shock wave technique, TR is about 202 eV, and fM is about 9% for the hohlraums driven by a 1 ns flattop pulse of 6 kJ laser energy. The Continuous Phase Plate (CPP) for beam smoothing is applied in the experiment, which increases TR to 207 eV while has almost no influence on fM . Comparisons between the results from the two kinds of technologies show that TR from the shock wave technique is lower than that from SXS whether with CPP or not. However, fM from the shock wave technique is consistent with that from SXS without CPP, but obviously lower than the SXSs result with CPP. The preheat effect on exterior surface of witness plate is reduced by thicker thickness of witness plate designed for higher laser driven energy.

The impact of low-Z impurities on x-ray conversion efficiency from laser-produced plasmas of low-density gold foam targets

It is an important approach to improve the x-ray conversion efficiency of laser-ablated high-Z plasmas by using low initial density materials for various applications. However, unavoidable low-Z impurities in the manufacture process of low-density high-Z foam targets will depress this effect. A general easy-to-use analytical model based on simulations was developed to evaluate the quantitative impact of impurities within the gold foam target on laser to x-ray conversion efficiency. In addition, the x-ray conversion efficiencies of 1 g∕cm3 gold foams with two different initial contents of impurities were experimentally investigated. Good agreements have been achieved between the model results and experiments.

Enhanced x-ray emissions from Au-Gd mixture targets ablated by a high-power nanosecond laser

As an important x-ray source, enhancement of x-ray emissions from laser-produced plasmas is imperative for various applications. High-Z Au-Gd mixture targets are proposed to enhance the laser to x-ray conversion efficiency compared to pure Au target. In the experiments, a 1 ns frequency-tripled (351 nm wavelength) laser light was used to obtain an intensity of 3×1014 W/cm2 on the targets. The x-ray spectra, total absolute x-ray emissions of all space, M-band fraction and backscattering from pure Au and Au-Gd mixture have been measured, respectively. It is shown that the absolute laser to x-ray conversion efficiency for the Au-Gd mixture containing 60% gold by atom is 47.7%, which has a 15% enhancement compared with that of the pure Au target. The experimental results are consistent with the radiation hydrodynamic simulations.

Experimental demonstration of laser to x-ray conversion enhancements with low density gold targets

The enhancement of laser to x-ray conversion efficiencies using low density gold targets [W. L. Shang, J. M. Yang, and Y. S. Dong, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 094105 (2013)] is demonstrated. Laser to x-ray conversion efficiencies with 6.3% and 12% increases are achieved with target densities of 1 and 0.25 g/cm3, when compared with that of a solid gold target (19.3 g/cm3). Experimental data and numerical simulations are in good agreement. The enhancement is caused by larger x-ray emission zone lengths formed in low density targets, which is in agreement with the simulation results.

Efficient multi-keV x-ray source generated by nanosecond laser pulse irradiated multi-layer thin foils target

A new target configuration is proposed to generate efficient multi-keV x-ray source using multiple thin foils as x-ray emitters. The target was constructed with several layers of thin foils, which were placed with a specific, optimized spacing. The thin foils are burned though one by one by a nanosecond-long laser pulse, which produced a very large, hot, underdense plasma. One-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations show that the emission region and the multi-keV x-ray flux generated by multi-layer thin foil target are similar to that of the low-density gas or foam target, which is currently a bright multi-keV x-ray source generated by laser heating. Detailed analysis of a range of foil thicknesses showed that a layer-thickness of 0.1 μm is thin enough to generate an efficient multi-keV x-ray source. Additionally, this type of target can be easily manufactured, compared with the complex techniques for fabrication of low-density foam targets. Our preliminary experimental results also verified that the size of multi-keV x-ray emission region could be enhanced significantly by using a multi-layer Ti thin foil target.

Comparison of the laser spot movement inside cylindrical and spherical hohlraums

Compared with cylindrical hohlraums, the octahedral spherical hohlraums have natural superiority in maintaining high radiation symmetry during the whole capsule implosion process in indirect drive inertial confinement fusion. However, the narrow space between laser beams and the hohlraum wall may disturb laser propagation inside the spherical hohlraum. In this work, the laser propagation inside the spherical hohlraum and cylindrical hohlraum is investigated experimentally by measuring laser spot movement at the SGIII-prototype laser facility. The experimental results show that the laser propagations inside the spherical hohlraum and the cylindrical hohlraum are totally different from each other due to different hohlraum structures. For the spherical hohlraum, although the laser energy is mainly deposited in the initial position of the laser spot during the whole laser pulse, some laser energies are absorbed by the ablated plasmas from the hohlraum wall. Because the laser beam is refracted by the thin plasmas near the laser entrance hole (LEH) region, the laser spot in the spherical hohlraum moves toward the opposite LEH. In contrast, the laser spot in the cylindrical hohlraum moves toward the LEH along the laser path due to the plasma expansion. When the laser is to be turned off, the accumulated plasmas near the LEH region in the cylindrical hohlraum absorb a majority of laser energy and hinder the laser arriving at the appointed position on the hohlraum wall.Compared with cylindrical hohlraums, the octahedral spherical hohlraums have natural superiority in maintaining high radiation symmetry during the whole capsule implosion process in indirect drive inertial confinement fusion. However, the narrow space between laser beams and the hohlraum wall may disturb laser propagation inside the spherical hohlraum. In this work, the laser propagation inside the spherical hohlraum and cylindrical hohlraum is investigated experimentally by measuring laser spot movement at the SGIII-prototype laser facility. The experimental results show that the laser propagations inside the spherical hohlraum and the cylindrical hohlraum are totally different from each other due to different hohlraum structures. For the spherical hohlraum, although the laser energy is mainly deposited in the initial position of the laser spot during the whole laser pulse, some laser energies are absorbed by the ablated plasmas from the hohlraum wall. Because the laser beam is refracted by the thin plas...

Radiative cooling induced plasma collapse observed in laser irradiation of a CH-tamped gold micro-disk

Time-resolved x-ray self-emission imaging was used to study the dynamic evolution of a laser-produced gold plasma tamped by plastic (CH), and a significant plasma collapse was observed during the laser irradiation. The plasma collapse, a kind of transverse contraction, has been ascribed to the radial compression caused by the different radiative cooling rates and thus different pressures between the central high-Z gold plasma and the surrounding low-Z CH plasma, and this has been reproduced by numerical simulations using the two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics code Multi2D. The experimental results represent an observation of the radiative cooling induced plasma jet within a 1 ns laser pulse duration, much more quickly than those reported previously. In addition, our experiment design may offer a method to study the radiative cooling rates of high-Z plasmas. The measured cooling rate is a factor of 2 higher than the theoretical result [Post et al., At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 20, 397 (1977)], but is wi...

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.

Note: Neutron bang time diagnostic system on Shenguang-III prototype

A neutron bang time (NBT) diagnostic system has been implemented on Shenguang-III prototype. The bang time diagnostic system is based on a sensitive fusion neutron detector, which consists of a plastic scintillator and a micro-channel plate photomultiplier tube (PMT). An optical fiber bundle is used to couple the scintillator and the PMT. The bang time system is able to measure bang time above a neutron yield of 10(7). Bang times and start time of laser were related by probing x-ray pulses produced by 200 ps laser irradiating golden targets. Timing accuracy of the NBT is better than 60 ps.