The Development of Beryllium Capsules for the National Ignition Facility

Physics – Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Beryllium capsules have long been an option as targets for the National Ignition Facility laser; now they are the primary choice. By varying the concentration of copper dopant in the ablator, this type of capsule can be optimized over a wide range of hohlraum temperatures including from 250 to 350 eV. Decreasing the dopant concentration also leads to targets with more DT fuel driven by the same hohlraum. Recent calculations have shown that beryllium capsules tolerate rougher DT ice and outside surfaces than comparable plastic capsules. Measurements of DT ice roughness on copper surfaces, and now on beryllium, show that adequately smooth surfaces can be achieved. Understanding why the beryllium capsules were better has led to experiments on the Nova laser to confirm the hydrodynamic behavior. Two leading candidates for fielding these targets are the machining and bonding of hemispheres, and sputtering beryllium onto plastic shells. The former led to laser experiments on the effects of joints. Both techniques may lead to the first implosion of beryllium capsules on either the NOVA or OMEGA lasers. Finally, the strength of a beryllium shell (the fact that it may hold its DT fill at room temperature) leads to simpler cryogenic target handling systems. All of these advantages have led to beryllum capsules becoming the preferred target for NIF.

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