Development of long-lifetime low-contamination beam dumps for NIF

Mary A. Norton; James E. Murray; Charles D. Boley; David Milam; Walter D. Sell; Michael D. Feit; Alexander M. Rubenchik

doi:10.1117/12.294302

8 December 1997 Development of long-lifetime low-contamination beam dumps for NIF

Mary A. Norton, James E. Murray, Charles D. Boley, David Milam, Walter D. Sell, Michael D. Feit, Alexander M. Rubenchik

Proceedings Volume 3047, Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion: Second Annual International Conference; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.294302
Event: Second International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to ICF, 1996, Paris, France

Abstract

The laser architecture of the NIF beamlines requires small- area beam dumps to safely absorb back reflections from the output and leakage through the PEPC switch. The problems presented by these beam dumps are that fluences they must absorb are very large, beyond the damage threshold of any material, and ablation of beam dump materials potentially contaminates adjacent optical components. Full scale tests have demonstrated that a stainless steel beam dump will survive fluence levels and energies as high as 820 J/cm² and 2.5 kJ, respectively. Small scale tests with tungsten, tantalum, and stainless steel have demonstrated erosion rates less than about 0.5 micrometers /shot, with stainless steel having the smallest rate. They also suggest that increased angles of incidence (>= 60 degree(s)) will greatly reduce the material ablated directly back along the beam path.

Citation Download Citation

Mary A. Norton, James E. Murray, Charles D. Boley, David Milam, Walter D. Sell, Michael D. Feit, and Alexander M. Rubenchik "Development of long-lifetime low-contamination beam dumps for NIF", Proc. SPIE 3047, Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion: Second Annual International Conference, (8 December 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.294302

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available