title: Simulated performance of the optical Thomson scattering diagnostic designed for the National Ignition Facility.
abstract: An optical Thomson scattering diagnostic has been designed for the National Ignition Facility to characterize under-dense plasmas. We report on the design of the system and the expected performance for different target configurations. The diagnostic is designed to spatially and temporally resolve the Thomson scattered light from laser driven targets. The diagnostic will collect scattered light from a 50 × 50 × 200 μm volume. The optical design allows operation with different probe laser wavelengths. A deep-UV probe beam (λ0= 210 nm) will be used to Thomson scatter from electron plasma densities of ∼5 × 1020cm-3while a 3ω probe will be used for plasma densities of ∼1 × 1019cm-3. The diagnostic package contains two spectrometers: the first to resolve Thomson scattering from ion acoustic wave fluctuations and the second to resolve scattering from electron plasma wave fluctuations. Expected signal levels relative to background will be presented for typical target configurations (hohlraums and a planar foil).
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Datte
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Divol
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galbraith
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Froula
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Glenzer
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: General Atomics, San Diego, California 92186, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kilkenny
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Landen
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Manuel
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Molander
authors.affiliation: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Moody
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Swadling
authors.affiliation: Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weaver