Recent diagnostic developments at the 100 kJ-level laser facility in China

A 100 kJ-level laser facility has been designed to study inertial confinement fusion physics in China.This facility incorporates various diagnostic techniques,including optical,x-ray imaging,x-ray spectrum,and fusion product diagnostics,as well as general diagnostics assistance systems and central control and data acquisition systems.This paper describes recent developments in diagnostics at the facility.

Recent research progress of laser plasma interactions in Shenguang laser facilities

Wereport experimental research on laser plasma interaction(LPI)conducted in Shenguang laser facilities during the past ten years.The research generally consists of three phases:(1)developing platforms for LPI research in mm-scale plasma with limited drive energy,where both gasbag and gas-filled hohlraum targets are tested;(2)studying the effects of beam-smoothing techniques,such as continuous phase plate and polarization smoothing,on the suppression of LPI;and(3)exploring the factors affecting LPI in integrated implosion experiments,which include the laser intensity,gas-fill pressure,size of the laser-entrance hole,and interplay between different beam cones.Results obtained in each phase will be presented and discussed in detail.

Progress in optical Thomson scattering diagnostics for ICF gas-filled hohlraums

Optical Thomson scattering(OTS)diagnostics have been continuously developed on a series of large laser facilities for inertial confinement fusion(ICF)research in China.We review recent progress in the use of OTS diagnostics to study the internal plasma conditions of ICF gas-filled hohlraums.We establish the predictive capability for experiments by calculating the time-resolved Thomson scattering spectra based on the 2D radiation-hydrodynamic code LARED,and we explore the fitting method for the measured spectra.A typical experiment with a simplified cylindrical hohlraum is conducted on a 10 kJ-level laser facility,and the plasma evolution around the laser entrance hole is analyzed.The dynamic effects of the blast wave from the covering membrane and the convergence of shocks on the hohlraum axis are observed,and the experimental results agree well with those of simulations.Another typical experiment with an octahedral spherical hohlraum is conducted on a 100 kJ-level laser facility,and the plasma evolution at the hohlraum center is analyzed.A discrepancy appears between experiment and simulation as the electron temperature rises,indicating the occurrence of nonlocal thermal conduction.

Investigation Into the Electromagnetic Impulses From Long- Pulse Laser Illuminating Solid Targets Inside a Laser Facility

Emission of the electromagnetic pulses （EMP） due to laser-target interaction in laser facility had been evaluated using a cone antenna in this work. The microwave in frequencies ranging from several hundreds of MHz to 2 GHz was recorded when long-pulse lasers with several thousands of joules illuminated the solid targets, meanwhile the voltage signals from 1V to 4V were captured as functions of laser energy and backlight laser, where the corresponding electric field strengths were obtained by simulating the cone antenna in combination with conducting a mathematical process （Tiknohov Regularization with L curve）. All the typical coupled voltage oscillations displayed multiple peaks and had duration of up to 80ns before decaying into noise and mechanisms of the EMP generation was schematically interpreted in basis of the practical measuring environments. The resultant data were expected to offer basic know-how to achieve inertial confinement fusion.

The application of proton spectrometers at the SG-III facility for ICF implosion areal density diagnostics

Charged particle diagnostics is one of the required techniques for implosion areal density diagnostics at the SG-III facility.Several proton spectrometers are under development, and some preliminary areal density diagnostics have been carried out. The response of the key detector, CR39, to charged particles was investigated in detail. A new track profile simulation code based on a semi-empirical model was developed. The energy response of the CR39 detector was calibrated with the accelerator protons and alphas from a241 Am source. A proton spectrometer based on the filtered CR39 detector was developed, and D–D primary proton measurements were implemented. A step range filter spectrometer was developed,and preliminary areal density diagnostics was carried out. A wedged range filter spectrometer array made of Si with a higher resolution was designed and developed at the SG-III facility. A particle response simulation code by the Monte Carlo method and a spectra unfolding code were developed. The capability was evaluated in detail by simulations.