Development and scaling of MeV x-ray radiography at NIF-ARC

We investigate the generation of MeV x-rays using the Advanced Radiography Capability laser system at the National Ignition Facility using 1, 10, and 38 ps pulse durations, with laser energies reaching up to 4 kJ and using compound parabolic concentrators. Hydrodynamic simulations using up-to-date measurements of the contrast of the ARC laser are conducted, allowing us to employ an electron scaling model that incorporates scale length and pulse duration, which aligns closely with the observed temperature distributions. Comparable x-ray sources, in terms of dose, are generated when using a 10 ps pulse duration with 2.4 kJ at ∼1.9 ± 0.4 × 1018 W/cm2 and when using a 38 ps pulse duration with 4 kJ at 9.9 ± 0.4 × 1017 W/cm2, both achieving ∼16 rad in air at 1 m for x-ray energies > 0.5 MeV. Radiographs performed on the laser “line-of-sight” show significant improvements in image quality than radiographs performed at 65 degrees to the laser axis. We verify the radiography performance using Monte Carlo Simulations.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physics of Plasmas
Published
2025-12-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0294704
Primary Topic
Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics
Type
article
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article

Development and scaling of MeV x-ray radiography at NIF-ARC

C. H. Wilde, S. F. Khan, Ginevra Cochran, S. Kerr et al.
Physics of Plasmas
Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics
article

Development and scaling of MeV x-ray radiography at NIF-ARC

C. H. Wilde, S. F. Khan, Ginevra Cochran, S. Kerr, D. Martinez, M. S. Freeman, A. G. MacPhee, S. Vonhof, D. N. Fittinghoff, G. J. Williams, Nam Hoai Nguyen, S. Patankar, A. J. Mackinnon, A. Kemp, S. C. Wilks, M. Prantil, P. L. Volegov, J. M. Di Nicola, K. D. Meaney, D. Rusby, D. Alessi, D. H. Kalantar, A. Aghedo, Maurice B. Aufderheide, M. P. Hill, S. Stadermann, J. Bude, Thomas E. Lanier, J. Brian McLoughlin
article en

Abstract

We investigate the generation of MeV x-rays using the Advanced Radiography Capability laser system at the National Ignition Facility using 1, 10, and 38 ps pulse durations, with laser energies reaching up to 4 kJ and using compound parabolic concentrators. Hydrodynamic simulations using up-to-date measurements of the contrast of the ARC laser are conducted, allowing us to employ an electron scaling model that incorporates scale length and pulse duration, which aligns closely with the observed temperature distributions. Comparable x-ray sources, in terms of dose, are generated when using a 10 ps pulse duration with 2.4 kJ at ∼1.9 ± 0.4 × 1018 W/cm2 and when using a 38 ps pulse duration with 4 kJ at 9.9 ± 0.4 × 1017 W/cm2, both achieving ∼16 rad in air at 1 m for x-ray energies > 0.5 MeV. Radiographs performed on the laser “line-of-sight” show significant improvements in image quality than radiographs performed at 65 degrees to the laser axis. We verify the radiography performance using Monte Carlo Simulations.

Physics of PlasmasVol. 32(12)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US), Los Alamos National Laboratory (US), General Atomics (United States) (US), Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 83%
Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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