Simulated performance of the optical Thomson scattering diagnostic designed for the National Ignition Facility

J S Ross; P Datte; L Divol; J Galbraith; D H Froula; S H Glenzer; B Hatch; J Katz; J Kilkenny; O Landen; A M Manuel; W Molander; D S Montgomery; J D Moody; G Swadling; J Weaver

doi:10.1063/1.4959568

Simulated performance of the optical Thomson scattering diagnostic designed for the National Ignition Facility

Rev Sci Instrum. 2016 Nov;87(11):11E510. doi: 10.1063/1.4959568.

Authors

J S Ross¹, P Datte¹, L Divol¹, J Galbraith¹, D H Froula², S H Glenzer³, B Hatch¹, J Katz², J Kilkenny⁴, O Landen¹, A M Manuel¹, W Molander¹, D S Montgomery⁵, J D Moody¹, G Swadling¹, J Weaver⁶

Affiliations

¹ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
² Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
³ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
⁴ General Atomics, San Diego, California 92186, USA.
⁵ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
⁶ Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA.

PMID: 27910648
DOI: 10.1063/1.4959568

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 × 10²⁰ cm^-3 while a 3ω probe will be used for plasma densities of ∼1 × 10¹⁹ cm^-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).