Around the Lab

The neutron temporal diagnostic (NTD) measures the fusion-reaction-rate history of neutrons emitted from DT- and D₂-filled targets. The neutron burn width is an important measure of confinement and is used to infer pressures exceeding 30 Gbar in cryogenic DT implosions. During June, the OMEGA NTD was replaced with a new ROSS streak-camera–based system. The impulse response of the ROSS-based system will be better characterized, reducing the uncertainty in the inferred cryogenic implosion pressures. The instrument is based on the fast rise time of a commercially available plastic scintillator. Neutron collisions with the scintillator convert neutron kinetic energy to 350- to 450-nm-wavelength light. The scintillator is shielded against hard x rays using a high-Z Hevimet nose cone (see Fig. 1). The light is collected and transported by an optical system to the photocathode of a fast streak camera, whose output image is recorded by a charge-coupled–device camera. Simultaneously recorded laser fiducial pulses provide absolute timing for the NTD neutron signal. To determine the absolute time calibration, the Hevimet nose cone is removed and replaced with an aluminum nose cone to measure hard x rays from a calibration target.