Measurement of 1-D Multi-FM SSD Smoothing Performance on OMEGA EP

ORAL

Abstract

Polar-drive ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) requires single-beam smoothing to minimize imprinting of laser nonuniformities that can negatively affect implosion performance. One-dimensional multi-FM smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) has been proposed to provide the required smoothing.\footnote{J. A. Marozas, J. D. Zuegel, and T. J. B. Collins, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. \textbf{55}, 294 (2010).} A prototype multi-FM SSD system has been integrated into the NIF-like beamline of the OMEGA EP Laser System. This talk will present recent experimental results to verify smoothing performance by measuring Rayleigh--Taylor growth rates in planar targets of laser-imprinted and pre-imposed surface modulations with and without applying multi-FM SSD. Experimental results will be compared to 2-D \textit{DRACO} simulations using realistic, time-dependent far-field spot-intensity calculations that emulate the effect of SSD. The multi-FM effectiveness in reducing the laser imprint will be inferred and the accuracy of our multi-FM modeling will be assessed. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0001944.

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Authors

  • M. Hohenberger

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • A. Shvydky

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • J.A. Marozas

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • T.J.B. Collins

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • G. Fiksel

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • T.J. Kessler

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • P.W. McKenty

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • D.D. Meyerhofer

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • J.D. Zuegel

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • T.C. Sangster

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester