Oxford Centre for High Energy Density Science (OxCHEDS)

Abstract:

Fast ignition inertial confinement fusion requires the production of a low-density channel in plasma with density scale-lengths of several hundred microns. The channel assists in the propagation of an ultra-intense laser pulse used to generate fast electrons which form a hot spot on the side of pre-compressed fusion fuel. We present a systematic characterisation of an expanding laser-produced plasma using optical interferometry, benchmarked against three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. Magnetic fields associated with channel formation are probed using proton radiography, and compared to magnetic field structures generated in fullscale particle-in-cell simulations. We present observations of long lived, straight channels produced by the Habara-Kodama-Tanaka (HKT) wholebeam self-focusing mechanism, overcoming a critical barrier on the path to realising fast ignition.

Abstract:

© 2020 Author(s). In the original paper,1 two coauthors, M. Gatu Johnson and B. Lahmann, were erroneously omitted from the author list. The corrected author list is identical to that of this erratum, and repeated below for clarity.

Abstract:

The indirect drive approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) has undergone important advances in the past years. The improvements in temperature and density diagnostic methods are leading to more accurate measurements of the plasma conditions inside the hohlraum and therefore to more efficient experimental designs. The implementation of dot spectroscopy has proven to be a versatile approach to extracting spaceand time-dependent electron temperatures. In this method a microdot of a mid-Z material is placed inside the hohlraum and its K-shell emission spectrum is used to determine the plasma temperature. However, radiation transport of optically thick lines acting within the cylindrical dot geometry influences the outgoing spectral distribution in a manner that depends on the viewing angle. This angular dependence has recently been studied in the high energy density (HED) regime at the OMEGA laser facility, which allowed us to design and benchmark appropriate radiative transfer models that can replicate these geometric effects. By combining these models with the measurements from the dot spectroscopy experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), we demonstrate here a novel technique that exploits the transport effects to obtain time-resolved measurements of the ion density of the tracer dots, without the need for additional diagnostics. We find excellent agreement between experiment and simulation, opening the possibility of using these geometric effects as a density diagnostic in future experiments.

Abstract:

The generation of solid-density plasmas in a controlled manner using an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) has opened up the possibility of diagnosing the atomic properties of hot, strongly coupled systems in novel ways. Previous work has concentrated on K-shell emission spectroscopy of low Z (<= 14) elements. Here, we extend these studies to the mid-Z(=32) element Germanium, where the XFEL creates copious L-shell holes, and the plasma conditions are interrogated by recording of the associated L-shell X-ray emission spectra. Given the desirability of generating as uniform a plasma as possible, we present here a study of the effects of the FEL photon energy on the temperatures and electron densities created, and their uniformity in the FEL beam propagation direction. We show that good uniformity can be achieved by tuning the photon energy of the XFEL such that it does not overlap significantly with L-shell to M-shell bound-bound transitions, and lies below the L-edges of the ions formed during the heating process. Reasonable agreement between experiment and simulations is found for the emitted X-ray spectra, demonstrating that for these higher Z elements, the selection of appropriate XFEL parameters is important for achieving uniformity in the plasma conditions.