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I . ,, J .J An Affum;ti;e Action/Equal Opportunity Employer The four most recent reports in this series, unclassified, are LA-6834-PR, LA-6982-PR, LA-7328-PR, and LA-7587-PR. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Inertial Fusion. Photocomposition by Kathy Valdez md .ioni Powell DISCLAIMER This report was prcptied as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Govern- ment. Neither the United Stxlc$ Government nor anY agency thereof, nor any of their employies, makes any vrumnty, chpre$ or implied, or resumes any legal tiabtity or responsibility for the acc’ur- aCY, COmPltlenCSS, Or usefulness of any information, Ippmntus, product, or proccs! disclosed, or rep- resents that its use would not infringe privxtely owned rights. Rcferencc herein to any spccitic tom. merciai product, process, or service by trade name, trademwk, manufadurer. or othawise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or famring by the United Slates Government or anl agency thcrmf. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not nec- essarily state or reflect those O( the United Slates Govanment or any agency there.af. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY CONTRACT W-7405 -ENG. 36 LA-7755-PR Progress Report UC-21 Issued: November 1980 Inertial Fusion Program July l— December 31, 1978 Roger B. Perkins and the Laser Fusion Program Staff Compiled by Frederick Skoberne CONTENTS ABSTRACT . 1 SUMMARY . 2 C02 Laser Program . .. OO. OO. O.OOO. ...oo.oo.eo..~ COz Laser Technology . .. OO. OOO... .. OOOOOO. O 3 Experiments, Diagnostics, and Military Applications . 3 Theoretical Support md Direction . ...4 Laser Fusion Target Fabrication . ...5 Applications of Laser Fusion Systems Studies . 6 I. CO, LASER PROGRAM . 7 Gemini System . ..O.O. 00 . .0000..07 Helios System . .. 00 . ..O.. ...000000.0.3 References . 13 II. ANTARES—HIGH-ENERGY GAS LASER FACILITY . 14 Introduction . .. O. O.. O...... 0.0.00.14 Optical System . .. OOO. .. O. 00 . .00.00.14 Front-End System . .. OOO. O..O.O. 00 . 00 .000..16 Power-Amplitier System... ...20 Energy Storage System... ..000.00000..023 Target System . ..e. .. OOOO. .. OO..OO . 00 . ..0.00.25 Controls System . ..OOO.. 00 . 0 . .000.0.26 HEGLFSite and Structures. ...30 III. COZLASER TECHNLOGY . ...32 Propagation Studies . ...32 Saturable-Absorber Recovery. ...35 High-Etllciency Phase-Conjugate Reflection in Germanium mdh Invetied COZ . 37 CalculationofSmall-SignalGtin CoefXcientsinCOz . 40 Direct Measurement ofNodinem Dielectric Properties in Germmium . 41 Subnanosecond Extinction ofCOz Laser Signals via Bulk Photoionization in Germanium . ...43 High-Pressure Enrichment ofLightIsoto~s . 44 References . ...45 IV. TARGET EXPERIMENTS, DIAGNOSTICS, AND MILITARY APPLICATIONS . 47 Experiment s . .. OO. OO..O . .. O....O. 47 Diagnostic Development . .. OO. .O..O. .o..000000~~~57 Military Applications . ...73 References . .. OO. .O..O. 000 ..00..80 v V. LASER FUSION THEORY AND TARGET DESIGN . 81 Theoretical Support . ...81 Target Design . ...89 Code Development . ...89 References . 0 . 0 91 VI. LASER FUSION TARGETFABRICATION . 93 Introduction . 93 Target Fabrication . ...94 Inorganic Coatings Development . ...98 Organic Coatings Development . ...101 Organometallic ~oatings Development . .. 105 Polymer Foam Development. ...105 Cryogenic Target Development. ...106 References . ...108 VII. APPLICATIONS OF LASER FUSION—FEASIBIL~Y AND SYSTEMS STUDIES . ..s109 Reactor Design Studies . ...109 Integrated Plant Design Studies”. ...118 Engineering Development Studies . ...121 References . ...127 VIII. RESOURCES, FACILITIES,AND OPERATIONAL SAFETY . .128 Manpower Distribution . ...128 operationalS afety . ...128 IX. PATENTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND PRESENTATIONS . 129 Patents . ...129 Publications . ...129 Presentations . ...130 vi INERTIAL FUSION PROGRAM July l—December 31, 1978 by Roger B. Perkins and the Laser Fusion Program Staff ABSTRACT Progress at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) in the development of high- energy short-pulse COZ laser systems for fusion research is reported. Improvements to LASL’S two-beam system, Gemini, are outlined and experimental results are discussed. Our eight-beam system, Helios, was fired successfully on target for the fwst time, and became the world’s most powerful gas laser for laser fusion studies. Work on Antares, our 100- to 200-TW target irradiation system, is summarized, indicating that design work and building construction are 70 and 48% complete, respectively. A baseline design for automatic centering of laser beams onto the various relay mirrors and the op- tical design of the Antares front end are discussed. Optical phase conjugation as a means of automatic target alignment is summarized, and we report on work with SF6-based gas isolators containing Hz, which may lead to almost total recovery of isolator absorption in a few tens of nanoseconds. In experi- ments with exploding-pusher targets, neutron yields exceeding 108 were obtained for the first time with COZ radiation. Progress in the development of x-ray diagnostics is out- lined, including the fast high-voltage triggering of our x-ray streak camera. Ultraviolet spectroscopy of highly ionized beams yielded results that had not been observed previously. Multiburst simulation and opacity experiments, part of our modest military applications effort, are described. Improvements in calculational techniques, and results of studies on optical loading of targets and their energy absorption by shifted laser foci are presented. Significant problems in the fabrication of laser fusion targets culminating in the successful manufacture of the 20-times-liquid-density target are outlined, and the development of a heat-transfer code that calculates the nonuniformity of DT ice layers on opaque inner target shells is discussed. The results of various fusion reactor studies are summarized, as well as investigations of synthetic-fuel production through application of fusion energy to hydrogen produc- tion by thermochemical water splitting. Studies on increased efficiency of energy extrac- tion in COZ lasers and on lifetimes of cryogenic pellets in a reactor environment are summarized, as well as the results of studies on pellet injection, tracking, and beam synchronization. SUMMARY (R. B. Perkins and Laser Fusion Sta~ The Laser Fusion Program at the Los Alamos Scien- Helios tific Laboratory (LASL) is pursuing the dual goal of developing inertial confinement fusion for commercial In late July, we entered a new era in the laser fusion and military applications. It is essential for both goals to program when the Helios laser system was fired suc- achieve scientific breakeven; that is, a fusion energy out- cessfully on target for the first time. Although the initial put that equals the laser energy incident on the target. energy on target was limited to only 1.6 kJ because of a For this purpose, we invented, and are developing, high- target-amplifier parasitic mode, investigations into the power short-pulse carbon-dioxide gas lasers that will nature of this mode enabled us to develop a means to in- provide the efficiency and repetition-rate capability re- crease the on-target energy to the 6-kJ level. At these quired for use in commercial power plants. As our gas levels the Helios laser facility now ranks among the laser systems become available, they are used intensively world’s most powerful laser systems, and is the world’s in a vigorous experimental program aimed at achieving most powerful gas laser. Because the carbon dioxide thermonuclear burn of fuel pellets. This goal requires laser is considered by most people the most promising that we perform basic physics experiments to provide an candidate for a laser-fusion-driven reactor, our recent understanding of the processes involved, and integral Helios results will play a significant, if not critical, role in pellet burning experiments, which we expect to achieve determining the direction of this country’s overall laser breakeven by the mid- 1980s. In our experimental fusion program. The results are preliminary, but ex- program, we are expending significant effort in target perimental evidence of the first high-density core com- design, target fabrication, laser facility support, and pressions has generated a good deal of excitement diagnostics development. In addition, a modest ex- throughout the laser fusion community. perimental effort directed toward military applications is under way. Last, a systems group is exploring design concepts for future commercial fusion and fusion-fission Antares hybrid reactor systems and subsystems to identify poten- tial problems. Substantial progress was made in all areas of the An- tares project. Raising the prestressed concrete walls of the larger buildings that will house Antares and the C02 LASER PROGRAM target systems was the most obvious undertaking. All long-lead-time Antares laser components were released Gemini to vendors for fabrication in preparation for the start of installation in August 1979. The Two-Beam Laser System, Gemini, was devoted A baseline design for automatic centering of the laser primarily to target experimentation and, to a small beams on the power-amplifier and target-system relay degree, to system characterization. During the past six mirrors was completed. We subsequently prepared months, 170 target shots were tired, 730/0 of which variations on the baseline system and an alternative con- produced the desired energy on target with no cept to allow an assessment of