3 research outputs found
OMEGA EP: High-energy petawatt capability for the OMEGA laser facility
OMEGA EP (Extended Performance) is a petawatt-class
addition to the existing 30-kJ,
60-beam OMEGA Laser Facility at the University of Rochester. When completed,
it will consist of four beamlines, each capable of producing up to 6.5 kJ at
351 nm in a 1 to 10 ns pulse. Two of the beamlines will produce up to 2.6 kJ
in a pulse-width range of 1 to 100 ps at 1053 nm using chirped-pulse
amplification (CPA). This paper reviews both the OMEGA EP performance
objectives and the enabling technologies required to meet these goals
Progress in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion research at the laboratory for laser energetics
Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is
expected to demonstrate high gain on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in
the next decade and is a leading candidate for inertial fusion energy
production. The demonstration of high areal densities in hydrodynamically
scaled cryogenic DT or D implosions with neutron yields that are a
significant fraction of the “clean” 1-D predictions will validate the
ignition-equivalent direct-drive target performance on the OMEGA laser at
the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). This paper highlights some
of the recent experimental and theoretical progress toward this validation.
The NIF will initially be configured for x-ray drive and with no beams
placed at the target equator to provide a symmetric irradiation of a
direct-drive capsule. LLE is developing the “polar-direct-drive” (PDD)
approach that repoints beams toward the target equator. Initial 2-D
simulations have shown ignition.
LLE is currently constructing the multibeam, 2.6-kJ/beam, petawatt laser
system OMEGA EP. Integrated fast-ignition experiments, combining the OMEGA
EP and OMEGA laser systems, will begin in FY08
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Direct-Drive Inertial Fusion Research at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics: A Review
This paper reviews the status of direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). LLE's goal is to demonstrate direct-drive ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) by 2014. Baseline "all-DT" NIF direct-drive ignition target designs have been developed that have a predicted gain of 45 (1-D) at a NIF drive energy of ~1.6 MJ. Significantly higher gains are calculated for targets that include a DT-wicked foam ablator. This paper also reviews the results of both warm fuel and initial cryogenic-fuel spherical target implosion experiments carried out on the OMEGA UV laser. The results of these experiments and design calculations increase confidence that the NIF direct-drive ICF ignition goal will be achieved