2014:

A next-generation cryogenic target was developed that will employ a new mounting stalk that is specifically designed to be insensitive to vibrational energy once aligned to the 60 beams of the OMEGA laser. Referred to as the “Type 1E target mount,” the new stalk was adapted by Mechanical Engineering’s Brian Rice from an original design by David Harding and Mark Bonino and uses a 17-µm-diam silicon carbide fiber to attach the cryogenic capsule to a polyimide tube that helps damp vibrations. The alignment-stability requirement is ~1% of the capsule diameter. These targets are filled with several hundred atmospheres of deuterium-tritium fuel and cooled to 19.6 K, or -424°F. Mathematical models, based on mechanical properties measured at 19.6 K, were used to select the target assembly materials and dimensions needed to ensure the stability requirement. Once irradiated by the 60 OMEGA beams, these capsules implode and produce a fusion energy yield of ~5 x 10¹³ DT neutrons which is ~100 J of fusion energy.

Shown here is type 1E target mount

2014:

The Isotope Separation System (ISS) was created to provide a flexible tritium fuel supply and ensure that the purity of that fuel supply meets LLE’s baseline inertial confinement fusion program requirements. The ISS will recover tritium from existing, unusable spent DT fuel, eliminate the need to ship tritium to/from external cleanup facilities, and provide LLE with the ability to examine fusion reactions at DT ratios other than 1:1.

Shown here is LLE’s Isotope Separation System

2014:

At an installation ceremony on 3 April 2014 Dr. Robert L. McCrory, University Vice President and Vice Provost, and CEO and Director of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, was appointed University Professor. Riccardo Betti, professor of mechanical engineering and of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, was named the inaugural Robert L. McCrory Professor.

“University Professorships are awarded for exceptional contributions to society and the University,” said President Joel Seligman. “I am delighted to recognize Bob’s accomplishments and extraordinary service with this professorship. As director of the LLE, he has led the largest single laboratory and research program at the University of Rochester. He has worked tirelessly in Washington, D.C. as an advocate for high-energy-density physics and the Laboratory. He has recruited outstanding colleagues and has been a visionary of international prominence for his work,” Seligman added.

Shown here is Robert L. McCrory (left) and Riccardo Betti (right)

2013:

Shown here is a new neutron time-of-flight detector

A new neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) detector was qualified for use on OMEGA. This detector is similar to an earlier device but has a larger scintillator volume for improved signal-to-noise measurements of deuterium-tritium fusion neutrons that scatter in the compressed fuel of cryogenic implosions. The spectrum of the scattered fusion neutrons is one of the key measurements used to infer the implosion performance. The detector includes additional photomultiplier tubes configured to measure different parts of the neutron spectrum emitted during such implosions. All of the neutron-spectrum-based implosion-performance measurements can now be made along a single line of sight from the target. The red ellipse shows the location of the hole in the Target Bay floor that is part of the collimated line of sight from the target chamber center to the detector.

2013:

Shown is the first image obtained with the 4ω probe diagnostic implemented on the OMEGA EP Laser System. Operating at a wavelength of 263 nm, the probe beam illuminates a channel dug into a preformed plasma with a 1200-J infrared channeling beam. The f/2 focusing cone of the IR beam is shown in red. Data obtained with this diagnostic will provide a new view of plasmas relevant for inertial confinement fusion.

Shown here is 4ω probe-diagnostic image