ALBERT

Notes: A radiation source has been developed on the 20-MA Z facility that produces a high-power x-ray pulse, generated in the axial direction primarily from the interior of a collapsing dynamic hohlraum (DH). The hohlraum is created from a solid cylindrical CH2 target centered within an imploding tungsten wire-array Z pinch. Analyses and interpretation of measurements made of the x-ray generation within and radiated from the hohlraum target have been done using radiation-magnetohydrodynamic-code simulations in the r-z plane that take account of the magnetic Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability. These analyses suggest that a significantly reduced RT seed (relative to that used to explain targetless Z-pinch data on Z) is required to explain the observations. Although some quantitative and qualitative agreement with the measurements is obtained with the reduced RT seed, differences remain. Initial attempts to include into the simulations a precursor plasma, arising from wire material driven ahead of the main implosion, did not ameliorate the differences. Modification of the simulated W/CH2 interface may be required to properly explain the measured axial radiation pulse. This pulse, which exits a 4.5-mm2 hole centered above the target, begins ∼5 ns prior to stagnation (as defined by peak radial radiation power). The 5-ns interval leading to stagnation represents the duration when the imploding tungsten plasma acts as a hohlraum wall, trapping radiation within the interior of the foam target. The hohlraum radiation exiting the hole at 6 degrees to the z-axis reaches a maximum intensity of 3.1±0.6 TW/str (associated with an average hohlraum temperature of 215±10 eV), 1.4±0.4 ns prior to stagnation. (The uncertainties represent rms shot-to-shot variations.) This radiation pulse, characterized here, is useful for performing radiation-transport experiments with drive temperatures in excess of 200 eV. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Progress in Z-pinch experiments at Sandia's Saturn facility have underscored a need for an absolute yield measurement for DD fusion neutrons. The technique chosen for making this absolute yield measurement was neutron activation of indium metal samples. To calibrate the technique, a 175-keV deuteron beam was allowed to impinge on a 3.0-μm-thick erbium deuteride target, producing neutrons through the 2H(d,n)3He fusion reaction. The neutron flux produced at 0° and incident on nominal 5-g indium samples was determined by the associated particle method. This method employed protons measured from the 2H(d,p)3H reaction to infer the neutron flux produced. After neutron irradiation, the activity of the indium samples was measured with a Ge gamma-ray detector. The total activity of the metastable state 115mIn (336.23 keV) was measured, compared with the total incident flux, and a calibration factor (indium counts/neutron/gram of indium) determined. For completeness, a calibration factor for DT neutrons from the 3H(d,n)4He fusion reaction was also obtained through the measured activity of the metastable state 114mIn(190.29 keV). The experiment and the measured calibration factors for both reactions are described in the paper.

Notes: We have measured the efficiency (tracks per incident neutron) of pure CR-39 for detecting DD and DT neutrons. Neutrons having average energies of 2.9 MeV (DD) and 14.8 MeV (DT) were produced by a 200-keV electrostatic accelerator and the neutron yields were measured using the associated particle counting technique. All CR-39 samples irradiated by DD or DT neutrons were etched for 2 h in a 70°, 6.25-N(underbar) NaOH bath. For bare CR-39, the efficiencies for detecting 2.9- and 14.8-MeV neutrons were found to be (1.3±0.4)×10−4 and (5.0±1.8)×10−5, respectively. We also investigated using CR-39 and polyimide as proton radiators. For detecting 2.9-MeV neutrons, the radiators had no significant effect on efficiency; but for detecting 14.8-MeV neutrons the polyimide radiator increased the efficiency to (7.8±2.8)×10−5.

Notes: The Laser Evaporation Ion Source (LEVIS) active lithium ion source has been developed for use on the focusing ion diode operated on the 10 TW Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator-II (PBFA-II) [J. P. VanDevender and D. L. Cook, Science 232, 831 (1986)] at Sandia National Laboratories. The source configuration consists of two laser pulses impinging on a heated (200 °C) thin-film LiAg layer on the anode surface. A short-pulse Nd:YAG laser creates a high-density vapor, which is then ionized by a long-pulse dye laser using the LIBORS (laser ionization based on resonant saturation) ionization method. Small-scale experiments determined that this dual laser-based approach can produce a source plasma of adequate density and confinement for acceleration and transport. Hardware modifications were undertaken to correct problems of premature impedance collapse and lack of beam lithium seen on previous PBFA-II experiments. As much as 85 kJ of Li is measured at the beam focus, but the source may not have been operating in a fully active (i.e., preformed) manner. Focusing performance appears superior to a passive LiF ion source operated on PBFA-II with the same magnetic field topology. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: X-ray powers on the order of 10 TW over an area of 4.5 mm2 are produced in the axial direction from the compression of a low-density foam target centered within a z-pinch on the Z generator.1 The x rays from this source are used for high-energy–density physics experiments, including the heating of hohlraums for inertial confinements fusion studies.2 In this article, detailed characteristics of this radiation source measured using an upgraded axial-radiation-diagnostic suite3 together with other on- and off-axis diagnostics are summarized and discussed in terms of Eulerian and Lagrangian radiation–magnetohydrodynamic code simulations. The source, characterized here, employs a nested array of 10-mm-long tungsten wires, at radii of 20 and 10 mm, having a total masses of 2 and 1 mg, and wire numbers of 240 and 120, respectively. The target is a 14 mg/cc CH2 foam cylinder of 5 mm diameter. The codes take into account the development of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in the r–z plane, and provide integrated calculations of the implosion together with the x-ray generation. The radiation exiting the imploding target through the 4.5 mm2 aperture is measured primarily by the axial diagnostic suite that now includes diagnostics at an angle of ∼30° to the z axis. The near on-axis diagnostics include: (1) a seven-element filtered silicon-diode array,4 (2) a five-element filtered x-ray diffraction (XRD) array,5 (3) a six-element filtered PCD array,6 (4) a three-element bolometer,7 (5) time-resolved and time-integrating crystal spectrometers, and (6) two fast-framing x-ray pinhole cameras having 11 frames each. The filtered silicon diodes, XRDs, and PCDs are sensitive to 1–200, 140–2300, and 1000–4000 eV x rays, respectively. They (1) establish the magnitude of the prepluse generated during the run in of the imploding wire arrays, (2) measure the Planckian nature of the dominant thermal, and (3) nonthermal component of the emission. The bolometers and XRDs mounted on the near-normal and 30° LOS (line-of-sight) measure the total power and check the Lambertian nature of the emission. Additionally, a suite of filtered fast-framing x-ray pinhole cameras and silicon-diode arrays behind a transmission grating, mounted on LOSs nearly normal to the z axis, quantify the plasma plume exiting the aperture. The hard bremsstrahlung generated is estimated with both on- and off-axis shielded scintillator photomultiplier diagnostics. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: In the light-ion-beam fusion program at Sandia National Laboratories an intense lithium beam is being developed to drive inertial confinement fusion targets. Since beam purity is an important issue, direct nuclear activation diagnostics based on the thick target yields of the reactions 7Li(p,n) 7Be, 10B(p,α) 7Be, 19F(7Li,d) 24Na, and 11B(19F,2p) 28Mg have been developed to measure the proton, lithium, and fluorine content of the beam. The specific target materials chosen for this work are LiF and BN. To calibrate these diagnostics, a Van de Graaff accelerator was used to measure the thick target yields as a function of ion energy for each of the ion and target material combinations. Each target material was also irradiated by carbon ions to assess the importance of any possible competing reactions. The results of these calibration studies are presented. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: An indirect nuclear activation diagnostic was developed to measure the proton fluence onto a thick target of lithium metal located in the diode region of pulsed power accelerators. This diagnostic uses the nuclear reaction sequence 7Li(p,γ)8Be→141Pr(γ,n)140Pr(β+) to relate the proton fluence to induced 140Pr activity. This diagnostic was calibrated using a Van de Graaff accelerator. Energetic protons were focused onto a thick lithium target driving the 7Li(p,γ)8Be reaction. The resulting prompt gamma rays activated a secondary 141Pr target via the reaction 141Pr(γ,n)140Pr(β+). A NaI gamma-gamma coincidence detector system was used to measure the induced 140Pr activity as a function of proton energy and proton fluence. These data yielded a calibration curve for proton energies ranging from 2 to 12 MeV. Since deuterium impurities can interfere with this diagnostic by driving the reaction sequence 7Li(d,n)8Be→141Pr(n,2n)140Pr, a similar calibration experiment was conducted using deuterium ions. These data yielded a correction factor that can be used to determine the deuterium contribution to the 140Pr activity, providing that the deuterium beam fraction is known. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: A review of recent progress on the design of a diagnostic system proposed for ignition target experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) will be presented. This diagnostic package contains an extensive suite of optical, x ray, gamma ray, and neutron diagnostics that enable measurements of the performance of both direct and indirect driven NIF targets. The philosophy used in designing all of the diagnostics in the set has emphasized redundant and independent measurement of fundamental physical quantities relevant to the operation of the NIF target. A unique feature of these diagnostics is that they are being designed to be capable of operating in the high radiation, electromagnetic pulse, and debris backgrounds expected on the NIF facility. The diagnostic system proposed can be categorized into three broad areas: laser characterization, hohlraum characterization, and capsule performance diagnostics. The operating principles of a representative instrument from each class of diagnostic employed in this package will be summarized and illustrated with data obtained in recent prototype diagnostic tests. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: A review of the diagnostics used at Sandia National Laboratories to measure the parameters of intense lithium ion-beam hohlraum target experiments on Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator II will be presented. This diagnostic package contains an extensive suite of x-ray spectral and imaging diagnostics that enable measurements of target temperature and x-ray output. The x-ray diagnostics include time-integrated and time-resolved pinhole cameras, energy-resolved one-dimensional streaked imaging diagnostics, time-integrated and time-resolved grazing incidence spectrographs, a transmission grating spectrograph, an elliptical crystal spectrograph, a bolometer array, an 11- element x-ray diode array, and an 11-element PIN diode detector array. The incident Li beam symmetry and an estimate of incident Li beam power density can be measured from ion beam-induced characteristic x-ray line emission and neutron emission. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We have examined the effect of illuminating the anode in the Applied-B ion diode in Sandia's PBFA-I accelerator with 60–100 kW/cm2 of extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) photons a few hundred nanoseconds prior to the accelerator shot. We find that XUV illumination significantly shortens the turn-on time of the ion beam, especially under conditions in which the normal "flashover'' ion-source mechanisms are suppressed. In addition to the anticipated XUV photodesorption and photoionization of the anode material, some of the improvement seen with XUV illumination may be due to photoejection of electrons from the power feeds and their subsequent interaction with the anode source. Also, XUV illumination of a fine polypropylene weave located at the virtual cathode radius can preform the virtual cathode, dramatically reducing the turn-on time of the ion beam in the diode.