Many experiments on Sandia National Laboratories' Z Pulsed Power Facility - a 30 MA, 100 ns rise-time, pulsed-power driver - use a monochromatic quartz crystal backlighter system at 1.865 keV (Si Heα) or 6.151 keV (Mn Heα) x-ray energy to radiograph an imploding liner (cylindrical tube) or wire array z-pinch. The x-ray source is generated by the Z-Beamlet laser, which provides two 527-nm, 1 kJ, 1-ns laser pulses. Radiographs of imploding, thick-walled beryllium liners at convergence ratios CR above 15 [CR=ri(0)/ri(t)] using the 6.151-keV backlighter system were too opaque to identify the inner radius ri of the liner with high confidence, demonstrating the need for a higher-energy x-ray radiography system. Here, we present a 7.242 keV backlighter system using a Ge(335) spherical crystal with the Co Heα resonance line. This system operates at a similar Bragg angle as the existing 1.865 keV and 6.151 keV backlighters, enhancing our capabilities for two-color, two-frame radiography without modifying the system integration at Z. The first data taken at Z include 6.2-keV and 7.2-keV two-color radiographs as well as radiographs of low-convergence (CR about 4-5), high-areal-density liner implosions.
We designed a dichroic beam combiner coating with 11 HfO2/SiO2 layer pairs and deposited it on a large substrate. It provides high transmission (HT) at 527 nm and high reflection (HR) at 1054 nm for a 22.5-deg angle of incidence (AOI), S polarization (Spol), and uses near half-wave layer thicknesses for HT at 527 nm, modified for HR at 1054 nm. The two options for the beam combiner each require that a high intensity beam be incident on the coating from within the substrate (from glass). We analyze the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) differences between the two options in terms of the 527- and 1054-nm E-field behaviors for air → coating and glass → coating incidences. This indicates that LIDTs should be higher for air → coating than for glass → coating incidence. LIDT tests at the use AOI, Spol with ns pulses at 532 and 1064 nm confirm this, with glass → coating LIDTs about half that of air → coating LIDTs. Lastly, these results clearly indicate that the best beam combiner option is for the high intensity 527 and 1054 nm beams to be incident on the coating from air and glass, respectively.
Several magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) experiments have been conducted on the Z accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories since late 2013. Measurements of the primary DD (2.45 MeV) neutrons for these experiments suggest that the neutron production is thermonuclear. Primary DD yields up to 3e12 with ion temperatures ∼2-3 keV have been achieved. Measurements of the secondary DT (14 MeV) neutrons indicate that the fuel is significantly magnetized. Measurements of down-scattered neutrons from the beryllium liner suggest ρRliner∼1g/cm2. Neutron bang times, estimated from neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) measurements, coincide with peak x-ray production. Plans to improve and expand the Z neutron diagnostic suite include neutron burn-history diagnostics, increased sensitivity and higher precision nTOF detectors, and neutron recoil-based yield and spectral measurements.