Indirect Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have achieved a burning plasma state with neutron yields exceeding 170 kJ, roughly 3 times the prior record and a necessary stage for igniting plasmas. The results are achieved despite multiple sources of degradations that lead to high variability in performance. Results shown here, for the first time, include an empirical correction factor for mode-2 asymmetry in the burning plasma regime in addition to previously determined corrections for radiative mix and mode-1. Analysis shows that including these three corrections alone accounts for the measured fusion performance variability in the two highest performing experimental campaigns on the NIF to within error. Here we quantify the performance sensitivity to mode-2 symmetry in the burning plasma regime and apply the results, in the form of an empirical correction to a 1D performance model. Furthermore, we find the sensitivity to mode-2 determined through a series of integrated 2D radiation hydrodynamic simulations to be consistent with the experimentally determined sensitivity only when including alpha-heating. Recent improvements in the indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments include the achievement of burning plasma state. Here the authors report the scaling of neutron yield in a burning plasma of Deuterium-Tritium fusion reaction by including the mode-2 asymmetry.

The interface between the capsule ablator and fuel ice layer is susceptible to hydrodynamic instabilities. The subsequent mixing of hot ablator material into the ice reduces fuel compression at stagnation and is a candidate for reduced capsule performance. The ability to diagnose ice–ablator mix is critical to understanding and improving stability at this interface. Combining the crystal backlighter imager with the single line of sight camera on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) allows direct measurement of ice–ablator mix by providing multiple quasi-monochromatic radiographs of layered capsule implosions per experiment with high spatial (∼12 μm) and temporal (∼35 ps) resolution. The narrow bandwidth of this diagnostic platform allows radiography of the inner edge of the capsule limb close to stagnation without capsule self-emission contaminating the data and removes opacity uncertainties typically associated with the spectral content of the radiograph. Analysis of radiographic data via a parameterized forward-fitting Abel inversion technique provides measurements of the distribution of mix mass inwards from the ice–ablator interface. The sensitivity of this mix measurement technique was demonstrated by applying it to layered experiments in which the stability of the ice–ablator interface was expected to vary significantly. Additional experiments suggest that high-density carbon capsules that employ a buried-layer dopant profile suffer from mixing at the innermost doped–undoped interface. Data from these experiments suggest that opacity models used in hydrodynamic simulations of NIF experiments can potentially over-predict the opacity of doped capsules. LLNL-JRNL-850535-DRAFT.

High-luminosity particle collider experiments such as the ones planned at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider require ever-greater vertexing precision of the tracking detectors, necessitating reductions in the material budget of the detectors. Traditionally, the fractional radiation length (x/X-0) of detectors is either estimated using known properties of the constituent materials, or measured in dedicated runs of the final detector. In this paper, we present a method of direct measurement of the material budget of a CMS prototype module designed for the Phase-2 upgrade of the CMS detector using a 40-65 MeV positron beam. A total of 630 million events were collected at the Paul Scherrer Institut PiE1 experimental area using a three-plane telescope consisting of the prototype module as the central plane, surrounded by two MALTA monolithic pixel detectors. Fractional radiation lengths were extracted from scattering angle distributions using the Highland approximation for multiple scattering. A statistical technique recovered runs suffering from trigger desynchronisation, and several corrections were introduced to compensate for local inefficiencies related to geometric and beam shape constraints. Two regions of the module were surveyed and yielded average x/X-0 values of (0.72 +/- 0.05)% and (0.95 +/- 0.09)%, which are compatible with empirical estimates for these regions computed from known material properties of 0.753% and 0.892%, respectively. Two types of higher-granularity maps of the fractional radiation length were produced, subdivided either into rectangular regions of uniform size, or polygonal-shaped regions of uniform material composition. The results bode well for the CMS Phase-2 upgrade modules, which will play a key role in the minimisation of the material of the upgraded detector.

The article is devoted to the study of the suppression of multiple scattering of positively charged particles with momenta of 180 GeV/c and 400 GeV/c passing through bent single crystals of silicon at small angles to the plane (111) both in channeling mode and in the above-barrier state. For the first time, the suppression of the effect of multiple scattering of non-channeling particles passing at a small angle to one of the planes of a silicon single crystal was observed. In addition, the asymmetry was observed in the multiple scattering of over-barrier particles with respect to their zero angle of entry into the single crystal.

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN will undergo an upgrade in order to increase its luminosity to 7.5 × 10 34 cm -2 s -1 . The increased luminosity during this High-Luminosity running phase, starting around 2029, means a higher rate of proton-proton interactions, hence a larger ionizing dose and particle fluence for the detectors. The current tracking system of the CMS experiment will be fully replaced in order to cope with the new operating conditions. Prototype planar pixel sensors for the CMS Inner Tracker with square 50 μm × 50 μm and rectangular 100 μm × 25 μm pixels read out by the RD53A chip were characterized in the lab and at the DESY-II testbeam facility in order to identify designs that meet the requirements of CMS during the High-Luminosity running phase. A spatial resolution of approximately 3.4 μm (2 μm) is obtained using the modules with 50 μm × 50 μm (100 μm × 25 μm) pixels at the optimal angle of incidence before irradiation. After irradiation to a 1 MeV neutron equivalent fluence of Φ eq = 5.3 × 10 15 cm -2 , a resolution of 9.4 μm is achieved at a bias voltage of 800 V using a module with 50 μm × 50 μm pixel size. All modules retain a hit efficiency in excess of 99% after irradiation to fluences up to 2.1 × 10 16 cm -2 . Further studies of the electrical properties of the modules, especially crosstalk, are also presented in this paper.

While nuclear fusion ignition has been achieved at the National Ignition Facility in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments, obtaining higher gain and more efficient burn is still desired. In that regard, increasing the compression of the fuel is an important factor. In recent indirect-drive capsule implosions, the SQ-n campaign is testing the hypothesis that reducing the hydrodynamic growth of perturbations is key to achieving higher compression of high-density carbon based-ablators for ICF. SQ-n uses a design at lower adiabat with a ramped foot laser pulse shape to minimize early-time hydrodynamic instability growth, predicted to be reduced by a factor of 10, and an optimized ablator dopant distribution. Subsets of experiments were conducted within the SQ-n campaign to study the implosion symmetry, laser backscatter, stability, and compression. Only the latter two will be reviewed here. Shock timing experiments using the velocity interferometer system for any reflector diagnostic enabled the development of a gently accelerating shock velocity. The ice–ablator interface acceleration, important for managing the Richtmyer–Meshkov phase growth, was observed with refraction enhanced radiography and the ablation front growth was measured using radiography of pre-imposed modulations. Finally, layered tritium-hydrogen-deuterium (∼75% H, ∼25% T, ∼2–10% D) and deuterium–tritium implosions demonstrate that between 15% ± 3% and 30% ± 6% improved compression has been achieved.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will undergo major upgrades to increase the instantaneous luminosity up to 5–7.5×10 34 cm -2 s -1 . This High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC) will deliver a total of 3000–4000 fb -1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13–14 TeV. To cope with these challenging environmental conditions, the strip tracker of the CMS experiment will be upgraded using modules with two closely-spaced silicon sensors to provide information to include tracking in the Level-1 trigger selection. This paper describes the performance, in a test beam experiment, of the first prototype module based on the final version of the CMS Binary Chip front-end ASIC before and after the module was irradiated with neutrons. Results demonstrate that the prototype module satisfies the requirements, providing efficient tracking information, after being irradiated with a total fluence comparable to the one expected through the lifetime of the experiment.

Bunch merging is a well-established technique to increase the intensity of synchrotrons and the luminosity of circular colliders. We suggest to exploit a combination of channeling, volume reflection and amorphous interactions in a bent crystal for beam merging in a transfer line. Two beams converging into the bent crystal along special directions should emerge in almost parallel directions. A merging scenario is discussed, and data collected by the UA9 Collaboration are reprocessed to prove its feasibility. Comparison with magnetic stacking, which is a similar process, is presented.

Nanosecond-gated hybrid complementary metal-oxide semiconductor imaging sensors are a powerful tool for temporally gated and spatially resolved measurements in high energy density science, including inertial confinement fusion, and in laser diagnostics. However, a significant oscillating background excited by photocurrent has been observed in image sequences during testing and in experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Characterization measurements and simulation results are used to explain the oscillations as the convolution of the pixel-level sensor response with a sensor-wide RLC circuit ringing. Data correction techniques are discussed for NIF diagnostics, and for diagnostics where these techniques cannot be used, a proof-of-principle image correction algorithm is presented.

The tracking detectors proposed for the LHC were unprecedented in their size and operational requirements, especially radiation tolerance and data rates. When they were first envisaged it was uncertain that technologies would be available which would meet the specifications, and considerable R&D was necessary to demonstrate this. In particular, customised electronic integrated circuits were evidently essential, yet they were probably technologically the least certain components. The radiation levels and the readout rates in earlier generations of collider experiments were far below those required for the LHC trackers and the number of LHC readout chips required was much larger. Nevertheless, solutions were eventually found, which continue to function reliably with excellent performance. In many ways, the tracker ASIC developments laid foundations and blazed trails for chips later designed for many other sub-detector systems. The ATLAS and CMS trackers developed different solutions to the LHC challenges, and are representative of other LHC systems. This review focuses on the ASIC developments undertaken by these two experiments to explain the most important innovations, recent progress and future challenges. The term "intermediate tracking detectors" is meant to differentiate from the innermost trackers close to the beam pipe and interaction region. This region is served by pixel detectors, whose development began later than the LHC trackers discussed here.

To cope with the challenging environment of the planned high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), scheduled to start operation in 2029, CMS will replace its entire tracking system. The requirements for the tracker are largely determined by the long operation time of 10 years with an instantaneous peak luminosity of up to 7.5 x 1034 cm-2 s-1 in the ultimate performance scenario. Depending on the radial distance from the interaction point, the silicon sensors will receive a particle fluence corresponding to a non-ionising energy loss of up to ?eq = 3.5 x 1016 cm-2. This paper focuses on planar pixel sensor design and qualification up to a fluence of ?eq = 1.4 x 1016 cm-2. For the development of appropriate planar pixel sensors an R&D program was initiated, which includes n+-p sensors on 150 mm (6") wafers with an active thickness of 150 mu m with pixel sizes of 100 x 25 mu m2 and 50 x 50 mu m2 manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (HPK). Single chip modules with ROC4Sens and RD53A readout chips were made. Irradiation with protons and neutrons, as well was an extensive test beam campaign at DESY were carried out. This paper presents the investigation of various assemblies mainly with ROC4Sens readout chips. It demonstrates that multiple designs fulfil the requirements in terms of breakdown voltage, leakage current and efficiency. The single point resolution for 50 x 50 mu m2 pixels is measured as 4.0 mu m for non-irradiated samples, and 6.3 mu m after irradiation to ?eq = 7.2 x 1015 cm-2.

Measurements of the interaction of positively charged particles with bent crystals were obtained by developing a new and consolidated analysis method, for the use of UA9 collaboration. The method was deployed to characterize crystals with a length of a few mm along the beam direction and a bending angle in the order of 10 μrad to 100 μrad, typically exploited in the CERN accelerators. To assess their properties and quality, the crystals have been investigated in the Super Proton Synchrotron North Area with a beam of mixed hadrons at 180 GeV. The UA9 telescopic tracker has been used to collect the data. Some of them are used in the present study to describe and validate the applied data-analysis methodology.

We present the results of an experimental study of multiple scattering of positively charged high-energy particles in bent samples of monocrystalline silicon. This work confirms the recently discovered effect of a strong reduction in the rms multiple scattering angle of particles channeled in the silicon (111) plane. The effect is observed in the plane orthogonal to the bending plane. We show in detail the influence of angular constraints on the magnitude of the effect. Comparison of the multiple scattering process at different energies indicates a violation of the law of inverse proportionality of the rms angle of channeled particles with energy. By increasing the statistics, we have improved the results of multiple scattering measurements for particles moving, but not channeled, in silicon crystals.

The CBC3.1 is the final version of the CMS Binary Chip for readout of the outer radial region of the upgraded CMS Tracker at the High-Luminosity LHC. The CBC development was completed with an engineering run in 2018 and two pre-production lots delivered in 2019. Large scale manufacture began in May 2021. Issues were raised when some wafers were tested at low temperature (-30 degrees C) and probing was suspended for investigation. After studies, some additional tests were added to reject affected chips and we show that the impact of the low temperature issues is expected to be very small.

A new generation of gated x-ray detectors at the National Ignition Facility has brought faster, enhanced imaging capabilities. Their performance is currently limited by the amount of signal they can be operated with before space charge effects in their electron tube start to compromise their temporal and spatial response. We present a technique to characterize this phenomenon and apply it to a prototype of such a system, the Single Line Of Sight camera. The results of this characterization are used to benchmark particle-in-cell simulations of the electrons drifting inside the detector, which are found to well reproduce the experimental data. These simulations are then employed to predict the optimum photon flux to the camera, with the goal to increase the quality of the images obtained on an experimental campaign while preventing the appearance of deleterious effects. They also offer some insights into some of the improvements that can be brought to the new pulse-dilation systems being built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Bent silicon crystals mounted on high-accuracy angular actuators were installed in the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and extensively tested to assess the feasibility of crystal-assisted collimation in circular hadron colliders. The adopted layout was exploited and regularly upgraded for about a decade by the UA9 Collaboration. The investigations provided the compelling evidence of a strong reduction of beam losses induced by nuclear inelastic interactions in the aligned crystals in comparison with amorphous orientation. A conceptually similar device, installed in the betatron cleaning insertion of CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), was operated through the complete acceleration and storage cycle and demonstrated a large reduction of the background leaking from the collimation region and radiated into the cold sections of the accelerator and the experimental detectors. The implemented layout and the relevant results of the beam tests performed in the SPS and in the LHC with stored proton and ion beams are extensively discussed.

We describe an experimental concept at the National Ignition Facility for specifically tailored spherical implosions to compress hydrogen to extreme densities (up to ∼800× solid density, electron number density ne∼4×1025 cm−3) at moderate temperatures (T∼200 eV), i.e., to conditions, which are relevant to the interiors of red dwarf stars. The dense plasma will be probed by laser-generated x-ray radiation of different photon energy to determine the plasma opacity due to collisional (free–free) absorption and Thomson scattering. The obtained results will benchmark radiation transport models, which in the case for free–free absorption show strong deviations at conditions relevant to red dwarfs. This very first experimental test of free–free opacity models at these extreme states will help to constrain where inside those celestial objects energy transport is dominated by radiation or convection. Moreover, our study will inform models for other important processes in dense plasmas, which are based on electron–ion collisions, e.g., stopping of swift ions or electron–ion temperature relaxation.