Zhiwei Lin

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.

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.

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.

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.

Observation of hydrodynamic processes of radiation-ablated plasma in a small hole

In the hohlraum used in laser indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments, hydrodynamic processes of radiation-ablated high-Z plasma have a great effect on laser injection efficiency, radiation uniformity, and diagnosis of hohlraum radiation field from diagnostic windows (DW). To study plasma filling in the DWs, a laser-irradiated Ti disk was used to generate 2–5 keV narrow energy band X-ray as the intense backlighter source, and laser-produced X-ray in a hohlraum with low-Z foam tamper was used to heat a small hole surrounded by gold wall with 150 μm in diameter and 100 μm deep. The hydrodynamic movement of the gold plasma in the small hole was measured by an X-ray framing camera and the results are analyzed. Quantitative measurement of the plasma areal density distribution and evolution in the small hole can be used to assess the effect of plasma filling on the diagnosis from the DWs.

A method for evaluating the mean preheat temperature in X-ray driven ablation

A novel method is proposed for evaluating the mean preheat temperature in X-ray driven ablation, based on the equation of state (EOS) of the ablator and the radiation hydrodynamic simulation. The equation of state of plastic (CH) has been discussed in detail. There are two types of planar CH in simulations, with the thick target being 10 μm thicker than the thin target. The difference between the transmission fluxes of the two types of targets can represent the energy absorbed by the last 10 μm of the thick target (or the preheated layer). This energy approximates the internal energy of the preheated layer. The mean preheat temperature of the preheated layer has also been obtained from simulations. The simulation results show that the relationship between the absorbed energy and the mean preheat temperature is similar to the EOS of CH for different conditions (e.g., different values of M-band fraction and radiation temperature) and can be written as e=2.530×1011T¯1.444 when the mean preheat temperature is...