The technical challenges and motivations for high-energy, short-pulse generation with NIF-class, Nd:glass laser systems are reviewed. High energy short pulse generation (multi-kilojoule, picosecond pulses) will be possible via the adaptation of chirped pulse amplification laser techniques on the NIF. Development of meter-scale, high efficiency, high-damagethreshold final optics is a key technical challenge. In addition, deployment of HEPW pulses on NIF is constrained by existing laser infrastructure and requires new, compact compressor designs and short-pulse, fiber-based, seed-laser systems. The key motivations for high energy petawatt pulses on NIF is briefly outlined and includes high-energy, x-ray radiography, proton beam radiography, proton isochoric heating and tests of the fast ignitor concept for inertial confinement fusion

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A design for an X-band rf photoinjector that was developed jointly by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is presented. The photoinjector is based around a 5.59 cell rf gun that has state-of-the-art features including: elliptical contoured irises; improved mode separation; an optimized initial half cell length; a racetrack input coupler; and coupling that balances pulsed heating with cavity fill time. Radio-frequency and beam dynamics modeling have been done using a combination of codes including PARMELA, HFSS, IMPACT-T, ASTRA, and the ACE3P suite of codes developed at SLAC. The impact of lower gradient operation, magnet misalignment, solenoid multipole errors, beam offset, mode beating, wakefields, and beam line symmetry have been analyzed and are described. Fabrication and testing plans at both LLNL and SLAC are discussed.

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We have developed a high-speed, electro -optic camera that features a large format; eight frames; and an accompanying eight -pulse, ruby laser illuminator.This system offers greater resolution and versatility than has been previously available. The eight 75 -mm frames provide high dynamic spatial resolution (15 line pairs /mm) and time resolution (as short as 10 -ns exposure time) to record fine physical details of rapid events.Four independent two -frame (tube) cameras complete with objective optics comprise the eight -frame array. Finally, pulsed ruby laser illumination with spectral filtering allows photography in intense ambient light.

The stray light or "ghost" analysis of the National Ignition Facility's (NIP) Final Optics Assembly (FOA) has proved to be one of the most complex ghost analyses ever attempted. The NIF FOA consists of a bundle of four beam lines that: 1) provides the vacuum seal to the target chamber, 2) converts lo to 30 light, 3) focuses the light on the target, 4) separates a fraction of the 30 beam for energy diagnostics, 5) separates the three wavelengths to diffract unwanted 10 & 2~ light away from the target, 6) provides spatial beam smoothing, and 7) provides a debris barrier between the target chamber and the switchyard mirrors. The three wavelengths of light and seven optical elements with three diffractive optic surfaces generate three million ghosts through 4'h order. Approximately 24,000 of these ghosts have peak fluence exceeding 1 J/cm'. The shear number of ghost paths requires a visualization method that allows overlapping ghosts on optics and mechanical components to be summed and then mapped to the optical and mechanical component surfaces in 3D space. This paper addresses the following aspects of the NIF Final Optics Ghost analysis: 1) materials issues for stray light mitigation, 2) limitations of current software tools (especially in modeling diffractive optics), 3) computer resource limitations affecting automated coherent raytracing, 4) folding the stray light analysis into the opto-mechanical design process, 5) analysis and visualization tools from simple hand calculations to specialized stray light analysis computer codes, and 6) attempts at visualizing these ghosts using a CAD model and another using a high end data visualization software approach.

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