[en] The OMEGA laser at the Univ. of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (UR/LLE) implodes fusion targets that contain cryogenic solid deuterium-tritium (DT) ice layers. These ICF targets are fabricated in a high-pressure DT-fill process. This paper describes the integration and control of this DT-fill process. The appropriate safety-control response during the DT-fill process depends on the location of the tritium inventory and where the containment alarm is detected. A control response that is deemed appropriate earlier in the fill process could be a dangerous action at a later point in the fill process. The control system must adapt as the DT inventory moves through the process train. This is achieved by defining eight 'fill states' in the fill process. The control system transitions to the appropriate fill state as the DT fill progresses. The fill state reflects the tritium location, pressure, and temperature. Steps are taken to ensure that the tritium location and the fill state are in agreement. The control system monitors the containment system's integrity and will take the appropriate action, based on the tritium location and the type of containment failure. This approach not only ensures process safety, but also maximizes the productivity by executing process pauses (in lieu of aborts) when conditions allow. (authors)

[en] The OMEGA EP Laser System was completed in April 2008. It consists of four NIF-like beamlines that will each produce 6.5 kJ per beam at 351 nm. Two of the beamlines can be configured as high-energy petawatt beamlines that will each produce 2.6 kJ in a 10-ps laser pulse. This paper describes the current status of the OMEGA EP Laser System and some initial experimental results.

[en] Cryogenic-deuterium-tritium (DT) target compression experiments with low-adiabat (α), multiple-shock drive pulses have been performed on the Omega Laser Facility [T. R. Boehly, D. L. Brown, R. S. Craxton et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] to demonstrate hydrodynamic-equivalent ignition performance. The multiple-shock drive pulse facilitates experimental shock tuning using an established cone-in-shell target platform [T. R. Boehly, R. Betti, T. R. Boehly et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 056301 (2009)]. These shock-tuned drive pulses have been used to implode cryogenic-DT targets with peak implosion velocities of 3x10⁷ cm/s at peak drive intensities of 8x10¹⁴ W/cm². During a recent series of α∼2 implosions, one of the two necessary conditions for initiating a thermonuclear burn wave in a DT plasma was achieved: an areal density of approximately 300 mg/cm² was inferred using the magnetic recoil spectrometer [J. A. Frenje, C. K. Li, F. H. Seguin et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 042704 (2009)]. The other condition--a burn-averaged ion temperature < T_i>_n of 8-10 keV--cannot be achieved on Omega because of the limited laser energy; the kinetic energy of the imploding shell is insufficient to heat the plasma to these temperatures. A < T_i>_n of approximately 3.4 keV would be required to demonstrate ignition hydrodynamic equivalence [Betti et al., Phys. Plasmas17, 058102 (2010)]. The < T_i>_n reached during the recent series of α∼2 implosions was approximately 2 keV, limited primarily by laser-drive and target nonuniformities. Work is underway to improve drive and target symmetry for future experiments.

[en] The University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics has been imploding thick cryogenic targets for six years. Improvements in the Cryogenic Target Handling System and the ability to accurately design laser pulse shapes that properly time shocks and minimize electron preheat, produced high fuel areal densities in deuterium cryogenic targets (202±7 mg/cm²). The areal density was inferred from the energy loss of secondary protons in the fuel (D₂) shell. Targets were driven on a low final adiabat (α = 2) employing techniques to radially grade the adiabat (the highest adiabat at the ablation surface). The ice layer meets the target-design toughness specification for DT ice of 1-μm rms (all modes), while D₂ ice layers average 3.0-μm-rms roughness. The implosion experiments and the improvements in the quality and understanding of cryogenic targets are presented

No abstract available

[en] OMEGA EP (extended performance) is a petawatt-class addition to the existing 30-kJ, 60-beam OMEGA Laser Facility at the University of Rochester. It will enable high-energy picosecond backlighting of high-energy-density experiments and inertial confinement fusion implosions, the investigation of advanced-ignition experiments such as fast ignition, and the exploration of high-energy-density phenomena. The OMEGA EP short-pulse beams have the flexibility to be directed to either the existing OMEGA target chamber, or the new, auxiliary OMEGA EP target chamber for independent experiments. This paper will detail progress made towards activation, which is on schedule for completion in April 2008

[en] The success of direct-drive-ignition target designs depends on two issues: the ability to maintain the main fuel adiabat at a low level and the control of the nonuniformity growth during the implosion. A series of experiments was performed on the OMEGA Laser System [T. R. Boehly, D. L. Brown, R. S. Craxton et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] to study the physics of low-adiabat, high-compression cryogenic fuel assembly. Modeling these experiments requires an accurate account for all sources of shell heating, including shock heating and suprathermal electron preheat. To increase calculation accuracy, a nonlocal heat-transport model was implemented in the 1D hydrocode. High-areal-density cryogenic fuel assembly with ρR>200 mg/cm² [T. C. Sangster, V. N. Goncharov, P. B. Radha et al., 'High-areal-density fuel assembly in direct-drive cryogenic implosions', Phys. Rev. Lett. (submitted)] has been achieved on OMEGA in designs where the shock timing was optimized using the nonlocal treatment of the heat conduction and the suprathermal-electron preheat generated by the two-plasmon-decay instability was mitigated

[en] Hohlraum energetics and implosion-symmetry experiments were conducted on the OMEGA Laser System using laser beams arranged in three cones and smoothed with elliptical phase plates. The peak radiation temperature (T_r) increased by 17 eV, with phase plates for gas-filled halfraums irradiated with 20 beams using a ∼7-kJ shaped laser pulse (PS26), corresponding to a 44% increase in the peak x-ray flux. The improved coupling correlates with reduced, cone-dependent losses from stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Phase plates reduce SRS and SBS by controlling the on-target laser-intensity envelope and the speckle modal power spectrum. An implosion symmetry scan was performed by varying the length and beam pointing of vacuum and gas-filled, thin-walled (3-μm) Au hohlraums irradiated with 40 beams using a ∼14-kJ PS26. Gated-x-ray (hv > 3 keV) images taken along radial and axial views of the self-emission from Ar-doped, D₂-filled, plastic-shell implosions quantified the indirect-drive-implosion symmetry. A shift in symmetry was observed between vacuum and gas-filled hohlraums having identical beam pointing. The ratio of x-ray drive at the poles of the capsule relative to the waist increased for the gas-filled hohlraum. Levels of hard-x-ray production (hv > 20 keV) and SRS were reduced with trace amounts of high-Z dopants (i.e., Ne, Kr) in the hohlraum plasma, while the peak T_r increased ∼5 eV

[en] Ignition target designs for inertial confinement fusion on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [W. J. Hogan et al., Nucl. Fusion 41, 567 (2001)] are based on a spherical ablator containing a solid, cryogenic-fuel layer of deuterium and tritium. The need for solid-fuel layers was recognized more than 30 years ago and considerable effort has resulted in the production of cryogenic targets that meet most of the critical fabrication tolerances for ignition on the NIF. At the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), the inner-ice surface of cryogenic DT capsules formed using β-layering meets the surface-smoothness requirement for ignition (<1-μm rms in all modes). Prototype x-ray-drive cryogenic targets being produced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are nearing the tolerances required for ignition on the NIF. At LLE, these cryogenic DT (and D₂) capsules are being imploded on the direct-drive 60-beam, 30-kJ UV OMEGA laser [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. The designs of these cryogenic targets for OMEGA are energy scaled from the baseline direct-drive-ignition design for the NIF. Significant progress with the formation and characterization of cryogenic targets for both direct and x-ray drive will be described. Results from recent cryogenic implosions will also be presented

[en] Significant progress has been made in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion research at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics since the 2009 IFSA Conference [R.L. McCrory et al., J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 244, 012004 (2010)]. Areal densities of 300 mg/cm² have been measured in cryogenic target implosions with neutron yields 15% of 1-D predictions. A model of crossed-beam energy transfer has been developed to explain the observed scattered-light spectrum and laser-target coupling. Experiments show that its impact can be mitigated by changing the ratio of the laser beam to target diameter. Progress continues in the development of the polar-drive concept that will allow direct-drive-ignition experiments to be conducted on the National Ignition Facility using the indirect-drive-beam layout. (authors)