Fabrication of polystyrene hollow pellet with high Z microparticles on inner surface for measurement of temperature and density in ICF plasma

Abstract

A new type of polystyrene hollow pellet is fabricated for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. The pellet adsorbs high Z microparticles on its inner surface to emit characteristic X-rays of the high Z material. The fabrication method uses emulsion techniques. Three different phases of solution (W′, W, O) are used for the fabrication process. The W′ phase is a 1 wt.% high Z microparticle mixture in water. This W′ phase solution is mixed with a 10 wt% polystyrene solution in dichloromethane (O phase) while stirring. The resulting emulsion (W′/O) is then poured into a 0.5 wt.% aqueous gelatin solution (W phase) while stirring. The resulting emulsion ((W′/O)/W) is heated to evaporate dichloromethane and a solid polystyrene shell is formed. After drying, water which is encapsulated in the shell evaporates out and high Z microparticles remain on the inner surface of the pellet.