Quick Shot

The next-generation cryo target 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 fusion neutron yields of nearly 5 × 10¹³.