A pulsed-power implementation of “Laser Gate” for increasing laser energy coupling and fusion yield in magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF)
File(s)RSI20-AR-00044 (002).pdf (4.56 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) at Sandia National Laboratories involves a laser preheating stage where a few-ns laser pulse passes through a few-micron-thick plastic window to preheat gaseous fusion fuel contained within the MagLIF target. Interactions with this window reduce heating efficiency and mix window and target materials into the fuel. A recently proposed idea called “Laser Gate” involves removing the window well before the preheating laser is applied. In this article, we present experimental proof-of-principle results for a pulsed-power implementation of Laser Gate, where a thin current-carrying wire weakens the perimeter of the window, allowing the fuel pressure to push the window open and away from the preheating laser path. For this effort, transparent targets were fabricated and a test facility capable of studying this version of Laser Gate was developed. A 12-frame bright-field laser schlieren/shadowgraphy imaging system captured the window opening dynamics on microsecond timescales. The images reveal that the window remains largely intact as it opens and detaches from the target. A column of escaping pressurized gas appears to prevent the detached window from inadvertently moving into the preheating laser path.
Date Issued
2020-06-18
Date Acceptance
2020-05-01
Citation
Review of Scientific Instruments, 2020, 91 (6), pp.1-9
ISSN
0034-6748
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Start Page
1
End Page
9
Journal / Book Title
Review of Scientific Instruments
Volume
91
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Author(s). This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Rev. Sci. Instrum. 91, 063507 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5139663
Identifier
https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5139663
Subjects
02 Physical Sciences
03 Chemical Sciences
09 Engineering
Applied Physics
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-06-18