LLNL and Sandia National Laboratories are continuing their long-standing collaboration on diagnostic advancements for the nation’s premier high energy density (HED) research facilities.
Mark Bowers, NIF’s magnetic direct drive diagnostics manager, said current projects include providing Sandia with NIF’s x-ray streak camera, neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) diagnostic, and neutron imaging system (NIS); future projects are in the works. Sandia’s Z pulsed-power facility already has versions of nTOF and a 1D neutron imager, but not with the resolution of the NIF diagnostics, Bowers said.
“Each diagnostic is working as a separate project, with the management for each assuring that issues in common will be done together,” Bowers said. “All of the projects are using proven systems engineering practices, obtaining requirements and constraints before doing the detailed design work.”
Bowers explained that there are many differences between the Z machine and NIF, such as timing, target position, and size. Therefore, new solutions are required for issues that will be new to both Z and NIF.
“Many LLNL experimentalists do experiments at the Z machine,” he said. “These diagnostics are required for their work. We are leveraging the transfer of the technology to enable experiments that they require but have not been able to do previously.”