LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
The programmable spatial shaper (PSS) within the National Ignition Facility (NIF) reduces energy on isolated optic flaws in order to lower the optics maintenance costs. This will be accomplished by using a closed-loop system for determining the optimal liquid-crystal-based spatial light pattern for beamshaping and placement of variable transmission blockers. A stand-alone prototype was developed and successfully run in a lab environment as well as on a single quad of NIF lasers following a temporary hardware reconfiguration required to support the test. Several challenges exist in directly integrating the C-based PSS engine written by an independent team into the Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS) for proof on concept on all 48 NIF laser quads. ICCS is a large-scale data-driven distributed control system written primarily in Java using CORBA to interact with +60K control points. The project plan and software design needed to specifically address the engine interface specification, configuration management, reversion plan for the existing 0% transmission blocker capability, and a multi-phase integration and demonstration schedule.
LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a stadium-sized facility that contains a 192-beam, 1.8-Megajoule, 500-Terawatt, ultraviolet laser system together with a 10-meter diameter target chamber. We describe techniques used to synchronize data acquired by gated x-ray imagers with laser beams at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Synchronization is achieved by collecting data from multiple beam groups with spatial and temporal separation in a single NIF shot. By optimizing the experimental setup and data analysis, repeatable measurements of 15ps or better have been achieved. This demonstrates that the facility timing system, laser, and target diagnostics, are highly stable over year-long time scales.
