Optical Smoothing Of Laser Imprinting In Planar-Target Experiments On Omega Ep Using Multi-Fm 1-D Smoothing By Spectral Dispersion

Direct-drive ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) requires single-beam smoothing to minimize imprinting of laser nonuniformities that can negatively affect implosion performance. One-dimensional, multi-FM smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) has been proposed to provide the required smoothing [Marozas et al., Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 55, 294 (2010)]. A prototype multi-FM SSD system has been integrated into the NIF-like beamline of the OMEGA EP Laser System. Experiments have been performed to verify the smoothing performance by measuring Rayleigh-Taylor growth rates in planar targets of laser-imprinted and preimposed surface modulations. Multi-FM 1-D SSD has been observed to reduce imprint levels by similar to 50% compared to the nominal OMEGA EP SSD system. The experimental results are in agreement with 2-D DRACO simulations using realistic, time-dependent far-field spot-intensity calculations that emulate the effect of SSD. Published by AIP Publishing.