Overview of the Laser Mega Joule (LMJ) Facility and PETAL Project in France

The Laser Megajoule (LMJ) developed by the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), will be a cornerstone of the French Simulation Program, which combines improvement of physics models, high performance numerical simulation, and experimental validation. LMJ is under construction at CEA CESTA at a primary stage of 1.5 MJ, 370 TW and 176 beams. LMJ will perform High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) experiments starting from the end of 2014. One of LMJ ’ s main goals is to obtain ignition and burn of DT- (cid:222) lled capsule imploded, through indirect drive scheme, inside rugby-shape hohlraum. The PETAL project consists in the addition of one short-pulse (500 fs to 10 ps) ultra-high-power, high-energy beam (few kJ) to LMJ. PETAL will offer a combination of a very high intensity multi-petawatt beam, synchronized with the nanosecond beams of LMJ. PETAL will expand the LMJ experimental (cid:222) eld on HEDP.