Note: A monoenergetic proton backlighter for the National Ignition Facility

J R Rygg; A B Zylstra; F H Séguin; S LePape; B Bachmann; R S Craxton; E M Garcia; Y Z Kong; M Gatu-Johnson; S F Khan; B J Lahmann; P W McKenty; R D Petrasso; H G Rinderknecht; M J Rosenberg; D B Sayre; H W Sio

doi:10.1063/1.4935581

Note: A monoenergetic proton backlighter for the National Ignition Facility

Rev Sci Instrum. 2015 Nov;86(11):116104. doi: 10.1063/1.4935581.

Authors

J R Rygg¹, A B Zylstra², F H Séguin², S LePape¹, B Bachmann¹, R S Craxton³, E M Garcia³, Y Z Kong³, M Gatu-Johnson², S F Khan¹, B J Lahmann², P W McKenty³, R D Petrasso², H G Rinderknecht¹, M J Rosenberg², D B Sayre¹, H W Sio²

Affiliations

¹ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
² Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
³ Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.

PMID: 26628185
DOI: 10.1063/1.4935581

Abstract

A monoenergetic, isotropic proton source suitable for proton radiography applications has been demonstrated at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). A deuterium and helium-3 gas-filled glass capsule was imploded with 39 kJ of laser energy from 24 of NIF's 192 beams. Spectral, spatial, and temporal measurements of the 15-MeV proton product of the (3)He(d,p)(4)He nuclear reaction reveal a bright (10(10) protons/sphere), monoenergetic (ΔE/E = 4%) spectrum with a compact size (80 μm) and isotropic emission (∼13% proton fluence variation and <0.4% mean energy variation). Simultaneous measurements of products produced by the D(d,p)T and D(d,n)(3)He reactions also show 2 × 10(10) isotropically distributed 3-MeV protons.