On December 5, 2022, an indirect drive fusion implosion on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved a target gain G_{target} of 1.5. This is the first laboratory demonstration of exceeding "scientific breakeven" (or G_{target}>1) where 2.05 MJ of 351 nm laser light produced 3.1 MJ of total fusion yield, a result which significantly exceeds the Lawson criterion for fusion ignition as reported in a previous NIF implosion [H. Abu-Shawareb et al. (Indirect Drive ICF Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 075001 (2022)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.129.075001]. This achievement is the culmination of more than five decades of research and gives proof that laboratory fusion, based on fundamental physics principles, is possible. This Letter reports on the target, laser, design, and experimental advancements that led to this result.

A LIFE laser driver needs to be designed and operated which meets the rigorous requirements of the NIF laser system while operating at high average power, and operate for a lifetime of >30 years. Ignition on NIF will serve to demonstrate laser driver functionality, operation of the Mercury laser system at LLNL demonstrates the ability of a diode-pumped solid-state laser to run at high average power, but the operational lifetime >30 yrs remains to be proven. A Laser Technology test Facility (LTF) has been designed to specifically address this issue. The LTF is a 100-Hz diode-pumped solid-state laser system intended for accelerated testing of the diodes, gain media, optics, frequency converters and final optics, providing system statistics for billion shot class tests. These statistics will be utilized for material and technology development as well as economic and reliability models for LIFE laser drivers.

Laser systems deployed in Inertial Fusion Energy power plants will usher in space qualified laser engineering and materials on a massive scale. Understanding subsystem efficiencies and component Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) are critical for success.

Submitted for the DPP09 Meeting of The American Physical Society 120-Hz Diode-Pumped Kilowatt Class Laser for Compton Scattering Sources ANDY BAYRAMIAN, GLENN BEER, ROB CAMPBELL, BARRY FREITAS, WILLIAM MOLANDER, STEVE SUTTON, STEVE TELFORD, CHRIS BARTY, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — A MonoEnergetic Gamma-Ray (MEGa-ray) Compton scattering light source is currently based on a 120-Hz electron accelerator. A 120-Hz laser source can increase the current gamma ray production by more than an order of magnitude and further enhancements are possible. Diode pumped solid state lasers (DPSSLs) offer the potential to operate at these higher repetition rates where flash lamp pumped laser systems are currently limited by thermal and lamp lifetime issues. Utilizing LLNL expertise in high energy DPSSLs, a 10-J, 120-Hz diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser architecture has been developed. The laser design makes use of advances in diode packaging, power conditioning, and beam conditioning to provide over 100-kW peak power array. Sapphire heatsinks and longitudinal cooling of the amplifier yields low parasitic loss and low wavefront distortion. An image relayed architecture and adaptive optics will yield a diffraction limited beam ideal for Compton scattering. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Andy Bayramian Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Date submitted: 14 Jul 2009 Electronic form version 1.4

Get PDF Email Share Share with Facebook Tweet This Post on reddit Share with LinkedIn Add to CiteULike Add to Mendeley Add to BibSonomy Get Citation Copy Citation Text A. J. Bayramian, J. P. Armstrong, G. K. Beer, R. W. Campbell, R. R. Cross, A. C. Erlandson, B. L. Freitas, R. A. Kent, J. A. Menapace, W. A. Molander, K. I. Schaffers, C. W. Siders, S. B. Sutton, J. B. Tassano, S. Telford, J. E. Wolfe, C. A. Ebbers, J. A. Caird, and C. P. J. Barty, "Design of a 10 Hz Femto-Petawatt Laser Pumped by the Mercury Laser Facility," in Advanced Solid-State Photonics, OSA Technical Digest Series (CD) (Optica Publishing Group, 2008), paper MC1. Export Citation BibTex Endnote (RIS) HTML Plain Text Citation alert Save article

We have demonstrated frequency doubling of a high-average-power, high-pulse-energy laser, producing 317 W at 10 Hz (31.7 J/pulse). Improved stoichiometry control and post-growth anneal has led to improved optical reliability and eliminated spontaneous boule cracking.

A single beamline of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has been operated at a wavelength of 526.5 nm (2 omega) by frequency converting the fundamental 1053 nm (1 omega) wavelength with an 18.2 mm thick type-I potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) second-harmonic generator (SHG) crystal. Second-harmonic energies of up to 17.9 kJ were measured at the final optics focal plane with a conversion efficiency of 82%. For a similarly configured 192-beam NIF, this scales to a total 2 omega energy of 3.4MJ full NIF equivalent (FNE). (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.

A single beamline of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has been operated at a wavelength of 526.5 nm (2 omega) by frequency converting the fundamental 1053 nm (1 omega) wavelength with an 18.2 mm thick type-I potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) second-harmonic generator (SHG) crystal. Second-harmonic energies of up to 17.9 kJ were measured at the final optics focal plane with a conversion efficiency of 82%. For a similarly configured 192-beam NIF, this scales to a total 2 omega energy of 3.4 MJ full NIF equivalent (FNE).

A single beamline of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has been operated at a wavelength of 526.5 nm (2 omega) by frequency converting the fundamental 1053 nm (1 omega) wavelength with an 18.2 mm thick type-I potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) second-harmonic generator (SHG) crystal. Second-harmonic energies of up to 17.9 kJ were measured at the final optics focal plane with a conversion efficiency of 82%. For a similarly configured 192-beam NIF, this scales to a total 2 omega energy of 3.4 MJ full NIF equivalent (FNE).

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory contains a 192-beam 3.6 MJ neodymium glass laser that is frequency converted to 351nm light. It has been designed to support high energy density science (HEDS), including the demonstration of fusion ignition through Inertial Confinement. To meet this goal, laser design criteria include the ability to generate pulses of up to 1.8-MJ total energy at 351nm, with peak power of 500 TW and precisely-controlled temporal pulse shapes spanning two orders of magnitude. The focal spot fluence distribution of these pulses is conditioned, through a combination of special optics in the 1 omega (1053 nm) portion of the laser (continuous phase plates), smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD), and the overlapping of multiple beams with orthogonal polarization (polarization smoothing).In 2006 and 2007, a series of measurements were performed on the NIF laser, at both 1 omega and 3 omega (351 nm). When scaled to full 192-beam operation, these results lend confidence to the claim that NIF will meet its laser performance design criteria and that it will be able to simultaneously deliver the temporal pulse shaping, focal spot conditioning, peak power, shot-to-shot reproducibility, and power balance requirements of indirect-drive fusion ignition campaigns. We discuss the plans and status of NIF's commissioning, and the nature and results of these measurement campaigns.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world's largest laser system. It contains a 192 beam neodymium glass laser that is designed to deliver 1.8 MJ at 500 TW at 351 nm in order to achieve energy gain (ignition) in a deuterium-tritium nuclear fusion target. To meet this goal, laser design criteria include the ability to generate pulses of up to 1.8 MJ total energy, with peak power of 500 TW and temporal pulse shapes spanning 2 orders of magnitude at the third harmonic (351 nm or 3omega) of the laser wavelength. The focal-spot fluence distribution of these pulses is carefully controlled, through a combination of special optics in the 1omega (1053 nm) portion of the laser (continuous phase plates), smoothing by spectral dispersion, and the overlapping of multiple beams with orthogonal polarization (polarization smoothing). We report performance qualification tests of the first eight beams of the NIF laser. Measurements are reported at both 1omega and 3omega, both with and without focal-spot conditioning. When scaled to full 192 beam operation, these results demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, that the NIF will meet its laser performance design criteria, and that the NIF can simultaneously meet the temporal pulse shaping, focal-spot conditioning, and peak power requirements for two candidate indirect drive ignition designs.

We use an infrared thermal imaging system in combination with a fluorescence microscope to map the dynamics of the local surface temperature and fluorescence intensity under cw, UV excitation of laser-modified fused silica within a damage site. Based on a thermal diffusion model, we estimate the energy deposited via, linear absorption mechanisms and derive the linear absorption coefficient of the modified material. The results indicate that the damage growth mechanism is not entirely based on linear absorption. Specifically, the absorption cross-section derived above would prove insufficient to cause a significant increase in the temperature of the modified material under nanosecond, pulsed excitation (via linear absorption at ICF laser fluences). In addition, irreversible changes in the absorption cross-section following extended cw, UV laser exposure were observed.

Laser-induced damage in transparent dielectrics leads to the formation of laser-modified material as a result of exposure to extreme localized temperatures and pressures. In this work, an infrared thermal imaging system in combination with a fluorescence microscope is used to map the dynamics of the local surface temperature and fluorescence intensity under cw, UV excitation of laser-modified fused silica within a damage site. The energy deposited via linear absorption mechanisms and the absorption coefficient of the modified material are estimated based on a thermal diffusion model. In addition, irreversible changes in the absorption following extended laser exposure were observed.

Initial measurements are reported for the Mercury laser system, a scalable driver for rep-rated high energy density physics research. The performance goals include 10% electrical efficiency at 10 Hz and 100 J with a 2-10 ns pulse length. This laser is an angularly multiplexed 4-pass gas-cooled amplifier system based on image relaying to minimize wavefront distortion and optical damage risk at the 10 Hz operating point. The efficiency requirements are fulfilled using diode laser pumping of ytterbium doped strontium fluorapatite crystals.