The MIT HEDP accelerator facility for diagnostic development for OMEGA, Z, and the NIF

The student-run MIT HEDP Accelerator Facility consists of a 125 keV ion accelerator, DT and DD neutron sources, and two x-ray sources for development and characterization of diagnostics for OMEGA, Z, and the NIF. The accelerator generates DD and D³He fusion products through the acceleration of D⁺ ions onto a ³He-doped ErD₂ target, with fusion product rates up to 10⁶ per second. The DT and DD neutron sources generate up to 6×10⁸ and 1×10⁷ neutrons per second, respectively. One x-ray generator is a thick-target W source with a peak energy of 225 keV; the other are based on Cu, Mo, or Ti tubes to generate x-rays with a maximum energy of 40 keV. OMEGA, Z, and NIF diagnostics developed and calibrated at this facility include CR-39-based mono-energetic particle radiography, charged-particle spectrometers, neutron detectors, and the particle time-of-flight CVD-diamond-based bang-time detector. This poster includes discussion about recent CR-39, image plate, and radiochromic film characterization efforts, including a study of the impact of x-ray exposure on CR-39 track characteristics.