Initial Target Experiments on the Upgraded OMEGA Laser System

A major program to denionstrate the feasibility of direct-drive laser fusion is underway at LLE. The overall goal of this program is to develop an understanding of target physics at the 30-kJ level that will allow the performance of direct-drive capsules designed for use with the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the 1 to 2-MJ level to be predicted with confidence. The majority of the experiments that will contribute to this goal will be performed with the 60 UV (351-nm) beams of the recently upgraded, 30-kJ OMEGA laser system. The key physics issues that will be examined, both experimentally and theoretically, include irradiation uniformity, laser energy coupling and transport, laser-plasma interaction physics, hydrodynamic stability, and hot-spot and main-fuel-layer physics.