[en] The convergent ablator experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are designed to measure the peak velocity and remaining ablator mass of an indirectly driven imploding capsule. Such a measurement can be performed using an x-ray source to backlight the capsule and an x-ray streak camera to record the capsule as it implodes. The ultimate goal of this experiment is to achieve an accuracy of 2% in the velocity measurement, which translates to a ±2 ps temporal accuracy over any 300 ps interval for the streak camera. In order to achieve this, a 4-ω (263nm) temporal fiducial system has been implemented for the x-ray streak camera at NIF. Aluminum, Titanium, Gold and Silver photocathode materials have been tested. Aluminum showed the highest quantum efficiency, with five times more peak signal counts per fiducial pulse when compared to Gold. The fiducial pulse data was analyzed to determine the centroiding a statistical accuracy for incident laser pulse energies of 1 and 10 nJ, showing an accuracy of ±1.6 ps and ±0.7 ps respectively.

[en] We present the design for a high-speed adaptive optics system that will be used to achieve the necessary laser pointing and beam-quality performance for initial fast-ignition coupling experiments. This design makes use of a 32x32 pixellated MEMS device as the adaptive optic and a two-channel interferometer as the wave-front sensor. We present results from a system testbed that demonstrates improvement of the Strehl ratio from 0.09 to 0.61 and stabilization of beam pointing from ∼75μrad to <2μrad.

[en] We investigate the nonlinear interaction of tightly focused femtosecond infrared laser pulses in fused silica and sapphire. For fused silica, emission occurs in the form of a cone with a structured spectrum centered near the third harmonic of the fundamental laser frequency. The emission spectrum evolves with successive laser pulses, suggesting a Raman origin for the emission with laser-induced structural changes of the material. For sapphire, only the third-harmonic component is observed, also in the form of conical emission. The proposed explanation for these observations, three-photon-excited hyper-Raman emission, provides a tool for probing the vibrational and structural properties of solid-state materials

[en] The convergent ablator experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are designed to measure the peak velocity and remaining ablator mass of an indirectly driven imploding capsule. Such a measurement can be performed using an x-ray source to backlight the capsule and an x-ray streak camera to record the capsule as it implodes. The ultimate goal of this experiment is to achieve an accuracy of 2% in the velocity measurement, which translates to a ±2 ps temporal accuracy over any 300 ps interval for the streak camera. In order to achieve this, a 4ω (263 nm) temporal fiducial system has been implemented for the x-ray streak camera at NIF. Aluminum, titanium, gold, and silver photocathode materials have been tested. Aluminum showed the highest relative quantum efficiency, with five times more peak signal counts per fiducial pulse when compared to Gold. The fiducial pulse data were analyzed to determine the centroiding statistical accuracy for incident laser pulse energies of 1 and 10 nJ, showing an accuracy of ±1.6 ps and ±0.7 ps, respectively.

[en] We have developed preliminary conceptual laser system designs for the Laser ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion) Fission Energy (LIFE) application. Our approach leverages experience in high-energy Nd:glass laser technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), along with high-energy-class diode-pumped solid-state laser (HEC-DPSSL) technology developed for the DOE's High Average Power Laser (HAPL) Program and embodied in LLNL's Mercury laser system. We present laser system designs suitable for both indirect-drive, hot spot ignition and indirect-drive, fast ignition targets. Main amplifiers for both systems use laser-diode-pumped Nd:glass slabs oriented at Brewster's angle, as in NIF, but the slabs are much thinner to allow for cooling by high-velocity helium gas as in the Mercury laser system. We also describe a plan to mass-produce pump-diode lasers to bring diode costs down to the order of $0.01 per Watt of peak output power, as needed to make the LIFE application economically attractive

[en] The decay τ^-→2π^-π⁺ 3π⁰ν_τ has been studied with the CLEOII detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. The branching fraction is measured to be (2.85±0.56±0.51)x10^-4 . The result is in good agreement with the isospin expectation but somewhat below the conserved-vector-current prediction. We have searched for resonance substructure in the decay. Within the statistical precision, the decay is saturated by the channels τ^-→π^-2π⁰ ων_τ , 2π^-π⁺ην_τ , and π^-2π⁰ην_τ . This is the first observation of this ω decay mode and the branching fraction is measured to be (1.89^+0.74_-0.67±0.40) x10^-4 . copyright 1997 The American Physical Society