The ICF program at Livermore has a large inventory of optical streak cameras that were built in the 1970s and 1980s. The cameras include microchannel plate image-intensifier tubes (IIT) that provide signal amplification and early lenscoupled CCD readouts. Today, these cameras are still very functional, but some replacement parts such as the original streak tube, CCD, and IIT are scarce and obsolete. This article describes recent efforts to improve the performance of these cameras using today’s advanced CCD readout technologies. Very sensitive, large-format CCD arrays with efficient fiber-optic input faceplates are now available for direct coupling with the streak tube. Measurements of camera performance characteristics including linearity, spatial and temporal resolution, line-spread function, contrast transfer ratio (CTR), and dynamic range have been made for several different camera configurations: CCD coupled directly to the streak tube, CCD directly coupled to the IIT, and the original configuration with a smaller CCD lens coupled to the IIT output. Spatial resolution (limiting visual) with and without the IIT is 8 and 20 lp/mm, respectively, for photocathode current density up to 25% of the Child-Langmuir (C-L) space-charge limit. Temporal resolution (fwhm) deteriorates by about 20% when the cathode current density reaches 10% of the C-L space charge limit. Streak tube operation with large average tube current was observed by lluminating the entire slit region through a Ronchi ruling and measuring the CTR. Sensitivity (CCD electrons per streak tube photoelectron) for the various configurations ranged from 7.5 to 2,700 with read noise of 7.5 to 10.5 electrons. Optimum spatial resolution is achieved when the IIT is removed. Maximum dynamic range requires a configuration where a single photoelectron from the photocathode produces a signal that is 3 to 5 times the read noise.
Areal density ((sigma) R) is a fundamental parameter that characterizes the performance of an ICF implosion. For high areal densities ((sigma) R>0.1 g/cm2), which will be realized in implosion experiments at NIF and LMJ, the target areal density exceeds the stopping range of charged particles and measurements with charged particle spectroscopy will be difficult. In this region, an areal density measurement method using down shifted neutron counting is a promising alternative. The probability of neutron scattering in the imploded plasma is proportional to the areal density of the plasma. The spectrum of neutrons scattered by the specific target nucleus has a characteristic low energy cut off. This enables separate, simultaneous measurements of fuel and pusher (sigma) Rs. To apply this concept in implosion experiments, the detector should have extremely large dynamic range. Sufficient signal output for low energy neutrons is also required. A lithium-glass scintillation-fiber plate (LG-SCIFI) is a promising candidate for this application. In this paper we propose a novel technique based on down shifted neutron measurements with a lithium-glass sctintillation-fiber plate. The details of instrumentation and background estimation with Monte Carlo calculation are reported.
The penumbral imaging technique has proven to be ideally suited for neutron imaging. The French CEA has successfully installed a neutron imaging system at the LLE (Rochester-New York) in June 2000. Images of the 14MeV fusion neutrons produced in the target have been recorded in the range 1012 to 1014 with a two-point resolution of 45 micrometers. The detector used was a 15cm diameter circular array composed of plastic scintillator elements. For several of the CEA experiments, bubble detectors developed for General Atomics simultaneously recorded neutron images. The SIRINC (Simulation and Reconstruction Imaging Neutron Code) code has been used to unfold neutron images obtained both with the segmented scintillator detector and with the bubble detector. We first describe the experimental setup and detector designs, then compare the sensitivity, quantity of information, and signal to noise ratio for those two detectors. Then raw and unfolded images are presented. The spatial resolution obtained for the unfolded images are estimated and compared for the two detectors types.
We have performed pulsed neutron and pulsed laser tests of a CVD diamond detector manufactured from DIAFILM, a commercial grade of CVD diamond. The laser tests were performed at the short pulse UV laser at Bechtel Nevada in Livermore, CA. The pulsed neutrons were provided by DT capsule implosions at the OMEGA laser fusion facility in Rochester, NY. From these tests, we have determined the impulse response to be 250 ps fwhm for an applied E-field of 500 V/mm. Additionally, we have determined the sensitivity to be 2.4 mA/W at 500 V/mm and 4.0 mA/W at 100 V/mm. These values are approximately 2 to 5x times higher than those reported for natural Type IIa diamond at similar E-field and thickness (1mm). These characteristics allow us to conceive of a neutron time-of-flight current mode spectrometer based on CVD diamond. Such an instrument would sit inside the laser fusion target chamber close to target chamber center (TCC), and would record neutron spectra fast enough such that backscattered neutrons and (gamma) rays from the target chamber wall would not be a concern. The acquired neutron spectra could then be used to extract DD fuel areal density from the downscattered secondary to secondary ratio.
An x-ray tomography system is being developed for high resolution inspection of large objects. The goal is to achieve 25 micron resolution over object sizes that are tens of centimeters in extent. Typical objects will be metal in composition and therefore high energy, few MeV x-rays will be required. A proof-of-principle system with a limited field of view has been developed. Preliminary results are presented.
We have created a detector to image the neutrons emitted by imploded inertial-confinement fusion targets. The 14-MeV neutrons, which are produced by deuterium-tritium fusion events in the target, pass through an aperture to create an image on the detector. The neutron radiation is converted to blue light (430 nm) with a 20-cm-square array of plastic scintillating fibers. Each fiber is 10-cm long with a 1-mm-square cross section; approximately 35-thousand fibers make up the array. The resulting blue-light image is reduced and amplified by a sequence of fiber-optic tapers and image intensifiers, then acquired by a CCD camera. The fiber-optic readout system was tested optically for overall throughput and resolution. We plan to characterize the scintillator array using an ion-beam neutron source as well as DT-fusion neutrons emitted by inertial confinement targets. Characterization experiments will measure the light-production efficiency, spatial resolution, and neutron scattering within the detector. Several neutron images of laser-fusion targets have been obtained with the detector. We describe the detector and our characterization methods, present characterization results, and give examples of the neutron images.
We have developed a fast, sensitive neutron detector for recording the fusion reaction-rate history of inertial-confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. The detector is based on the fast rise-time of a commercial plastic scintillator (BC-422) and has a response < 25 ps FWHM. A thin piece of scintillator material acts as a neutron-to-light converter. A zoom lens images light from the scintillator surface to a high-speed (15 ps) optical streak camera for recording. The zoom lens allows the scintillator to be positioned between 1 and 50 cm from a target. The camera simultaneously records an optical fiducial pulse which allows the camera time base to be calibrated relative to the incident laser power. Bursts of x rays formed by focusing 20 ps, 2.5 TW laser pulses onto gold disk targets demonstrate the detector resolution to be < 25 ps. We have recorded burn histories for deuterium/tritium-filled targets producing as few as 3 X 107 neutrons.
Future multibeam laser-fusion experiments will require that beam powers be determined with better than 5% precision over a range approaching 40 to 1. In this paper, statistical, dispersive, and nonlinear factors which most influence such measurements are discussed. We conclude that such measurements can be made with 30-ps temporal resolution using optical streak cameras.
The laser beams irradiating a target at the Nova laser facility comprise a set of ten simultaneous events. Two streak cameras whose resolutions are 40 ps record the power history for each beam five beams to a camera their time bases are cross-timed with a fiducial pulse. Analysis of data recorded for target experiments conducted over a six month period show the precision for cross-timing signals between two streak cameras to be ps and for characterizing a single temporal feature of a pulse to be ps. Beam synchronization at the end of six months was within 20 ps of the synchronization at the beginning of the experiments. A beam timing shift greater than 25 ps can be detected on a single laser shot shifts of 10 to 20 ps require several shots to detect. 1 .
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