title: The design of the optical Thomson scattering diagnostic for the National Ignition Facility.
abstract: The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a 192 laser beam facility designed to support the Stockpile Stewardship, High Energy Density and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) programs. We report on the design of an Optical Thomson Scattering (OTS) diagnostic that has the potential to transform the community's understanding of NIF hohlraum physics by providing first principle, local, time-resolved measurements of under-dense plasma conditions. The system design allows operation with different probe laser wavelengths by manual selection of the appropriate beam splitter and gratings before the shot. A deep-UV probe beam (λ0-210 nm) will be used to optimize the scattered signal for plasma densities of 5 × 1020electrons/cm3while a 3ω probe will be used for experiments investigating lower density plasmas of 1 × 1019electrons/cm3. We report the phase I design of a two phase design strategy. Phase I includes the OTS telescope, spectrometer, and streak camera; these will be used to assess the background levels at NIF. Phase II will include the design and installation of a probe laser.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Datte
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ross
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: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Daub
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galbraith
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Glenzer
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, 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: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kilkenny
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Landen
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Manha
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Manuel
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, 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
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moody
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Swadling
authors.affiliation: Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weaver