Initial Performance Results of the OMEGA Laser System

An important step in the U.S. inertial fusion effort toward demonstrating ignition and modest gain in the laboratory is the validation of high-performance direct-drive fusion capsules. The scientific program at uR/LLE1 is aimed at studying nearignition conditions in direct-drive capsules that achieve ion temperatures of 2 to 3 keV and fuel areal densities of 0.2 g/cm2. Such capsules are expected to achieve convergence ratios greater than 20 and experience Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) growth factors in excess of 500. The OMEGA laser system has been upgraded to demonstrate these near-ignition conditions. The system has now produced up to 37 kJ of UV energy on target in 60 beams. Ultimately, the systemwill provide versatile pulse shapes and produce high irradiation uniformity (1 %-2%) on the capsule.