The National Ignition Facility - A New Age in Science
by
Prof.Eduard Moses(National Institute of Fusion (NIF))
→
Europe/Stockholm
Oskar Klein Auditorium
Oskar Klein Auditorium
Description
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is presently under construction
at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore,
California. NIF is a 192-beam Nd-glass laser system for studying inertial
confinement fusion (ICF) and the physics at extreme temperatures (108 K),
extreme pressures (10 GBar) and high energy densities (>100g/cm3). When
completed in 2009, NIF will be able to produce 1.8 MJ, 500 TW of
ultraviolet light for target experiments. This is approximately 100
times as energetic as present laboratory capabilities. The Project is
approximately 90% complete with the first 48 beams operational in the main
laser bay. These 48 beams have produced 1 Megajoule of 1.05-µm light,
making it already the most energetic pulsed infrared laser in the world
by an order of magnitude. NIF has also demonstrated that it can meet
all of its functional requirements and primary criteria in single-beam
experiments.
The requirements for performance of the NIF laser are extremely demanding
for reaching the goals of ICF. The ICF mission of NIF is to produce
fusion ignition of thermonuclear fuel in the laboratory. Fusion is the
process for heating the sun and is of long-term interest as a clean,
reliable power source on earth. The approach on NIF for ignition is to
use the lasers to compress and heat the deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel in
millimeter-size capsules. Beyond the ignition mission, NIF will establish
a unique capability to understand high energy physics issues relevant
to fusion energy and basic science, including topics such as element
formation in stars, planetary system formation, astrophysics and many
others.
This talk will summarize progress on building the NIF laser - the world's
largest and most complex optical system - the campaign to achieve ignition
in 2010, and the transition of NIF to the premier facility for exploring
extreme conditions of high energy density physics.
