LLE Review Quarterly Report January - March 2012. Volume 130

Abstract

This volume of the LLE Review, covering January–March 2012, features “OMEGA Polar-Drive Target Designs,” by P. B. Radha, J. A. Marozas, F. J. Marshall, A. Shvydky, T. J. B. Collins, V. N. Goncharov, R. L. McCrory, P. W. McKenty, D. D. Meyerhofer, T. C. Sangster, and S. Skupsky. This article (p. 57) describes low-adiabat, cryogenic-deuterium–tritium, and warm-plastic-shell polar-drive (PD)–implosion designs for the OMEGA laser. The designs are at two different on-target laser intensities, each at a different in-flight aspect ratio (IFAR). The first design permits one to study implosion energetics and target performance closer to ignition-relevant intensities (7 X 1014 W/cm2 at the quarter-critical surface), where nonlocal heat conduction and laser–plasma interactions can play an important role, but at lower values of IFAR (~22). The second design permits one to study implosion energetics and target performance at a lower intensity (3 X 1014 W/cm2) but at higher IFAR (~32), where the shell instability can play an important role. The higher IFAR designs are accessible on the existing OMEGA Laser System only at lower intensities. Implosions at ignition-relevant intensities can be obtained only by reducing target radius, although only at smaller values of IFAR. Polar-drive geometry requires repointing the laser beamsmore » to improve shell symmetry. The higher-intensity designs optimize target performance by repointing beams to a lesser extent and compensate for the reduced equatorial drive by increasing beam energies for the repointed beams and using custom beam profiles that improve equatorial illumination at the expense of irradiation at higher latitudes. These designs will be studied when new phase plates for the OMEGA Laser System, corresponding to the smaller target radii and custom beam profiles, are obtained. Implosion results from the combined set of high-intensity and high-IFAR implosions should yield valuable data to validate models of laser-energy deposition, heat conduction, nonuniformity growth, and fuel assembly in PD geometry.« less