Laser-induced thermonuclear fusion

Nuckolls, J.; Emmett, John L.; Wood, Lowell

doi:10.1063/1.3128183

Cited by 85 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…13 Also shown are the horizontal (red) and vertical (black) lineouts through the peak 14 in (b) spatial and (c) spectral domains. 15 The spot is observed to be asymmetric, being approximately 40% broader along the horizontal axis as compared to the vertical. Since the incident laser pulse effectively has a 'tophat' distribution (i.e.…”

Section: Integrated Reflectivity and Spectrummentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Specular Reflectivity and Hot-Electron Generation in High-Contrast Relativistic Laser-Plasma Interactions

Kemp

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ultra-intense laser (> 10 18 W/cm 2 ) interactions with matter are capable of producing relativistic electrons which have a variety of applications in state-of-the-art scientific and medical research conducted at universities and national laboratories across the world. Control of various aspects of these hot-electron distributions is highly desired to optimize a particular outcome. Hot-electron generation in low-contrast interactions, where significant amounts of under-dense pre-plasma are present, can be plagued by highly non-linear relativistic laser-plasma instabilities and quasi-static magnetic field generation, often resulting in less than desirable and predictable electron source characteristics. High-contrast interactions offer more controlled interactions but often at the cost of overall lower coupling and increased sensitivity to initial target conditions. An experiment studying the differences in hot-electron generation between high and low-contrast pulse interactions with solid density targets was performed on the Titan laser platform at the Jupiter Laser Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA. To date, these hot-electrons generated in the laboratory are not directly observable at the source of the interaction. Instead, indirect studies are performed using state-of-the-art simulations, constrained by the various experimental measurements. These measurements, more-often-than-not, rely on secondary processes generated by the transport of these electrons through the solid density materials which can susceptible to a variety instabilities and target material/geometry effects. Although often neglected in these types of studies, the specularly reflected light can provide invaluable insight as it is directly influenced by the interaction.In this thesis, I address the use of (personally obtained) experimental specular reflectivity measurements to indirectly study hot-electron generation in the context of high-contrast, ii relativistic laser-plasma interactions. Spatial, temporal and spectral properties of the incident and specular pulses, both near and far away from the interaction region where experimental measurements are obtained, are used to benchmark simulations designed to infer dominant hot-electron acceleration mechanisms and their corresponding energy/angular distributions. To handle this highly coupled interaction, I employed particle-in-cell modeling using a wide variety of algorithms (verified to be numerically stable and consistent with analytic expressions) and physical models (validated by experimental results) to reasonably model the interaction's sweeping range of plasma densities, temporal and spatial scales, G. E. Kemp, et al, Experimental and LSP modeling of pre-pulse effects on the laser-plasma interaction by a 527 nm laser pulse,

show abstract

Section: Integrated Reflectivity and Spectrummentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Ever since its inception in the early 70's [14,15], laser-induced thermonuclear fusion has been extensively studied for it's extremely appealing prospect of a clean energy source.…”

Section: Fast Ignitor Approach To Inertial Confinement Fusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specular Reflectivity and Hot-Electron Generation in High-Contrast Relativistic Laser-Plasma Interactions

Kemp

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Blank experiments or. the pressure vessel show the amount of tritium in the secondary container to be about one-tenth that expected from the permeation for mula (1) in Chapter IV. This effect could be caused by surface oxides on the stain less steel pressure vessel, the prob able nonequilibrium for the first 24 hr o!…”

Section: Thk Dt Phessuh1zehmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…perfect gas pressure inside mlcroballoon (Pa) P_ perfect gas pressure outside microballoon (Pa) P 1 gas pressure corrected for compressibility (Pa) P experimentally measured gas pressure (Pa) P maximum perfect gas pressure inside microballoons (Pa) P maximum experimentally measured gas pressure (Pa) Q gas permeability exponential (*K) Q.. volume constant for i constituent oxide in a given ula** -um d in nhiss density calculation <m" ) weight percent of i constituent oxide in a given glass C.) gas compressibility (dimensionless} ratio of boron to oxygen atoms in a given glass (dimensionless) ratio of silicon to oxygen atoms in a given glass (dimensionless) tempvrature dependent component in first virial coefficient for gas compress ibility (m 3 /kg -P K) constant component in first vtrial coefficient for gas compressibility <m 'kg) -9 -1 tritium decay constant (1,780 X 10 s ) 3 density of gas (kg/m > density of glass (kg/m ) density of tritium atoms (atoms/m ) hoop stress for half breakage of a given batch of glass microballoons (Pa) fta-1 -" permeation time constant (s)…”

Section: Content*mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of the glass microballoon laser target

Souers¹,

Tsugawa²,

Stone³

1974

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…(18) In addition, the field-ion microscope (FIM) could be useful if the void or interstitial dislocation loop 16 -3 number'densities were above approximdtely 3 10 cm IV-9-2. Experimental studies of the effect of the radiation- (19) induced dynamic segregation effect on the growth kinetics of both voids and interstitial dislocation loops.…”

Section: Growth Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%