ICF quarterly report October-December 1998 volume 8, number 1

This issue of the ICF Quarterly Report focuses on the final section of the 192-arm, 1.8-MJ National Ignition Facility (NIF). We describe both technological advances necessary for optimal utilization of the delivered energy and the hohlraum physics resulting from extremely high energy densities. Two articles belong to the first category. The conversion of infrared light to ultraviolet occurs at the tripler in the NIF's Final Optics Assembly. It is then necessary to separate any unconverted (first- and second-harmonic) light from the tripled-frequency light passed to the target. Large-Aperture Color-Separation Gratings for Diverting Unconverted Light Away from the NIF Target describes the design and fabrication of novel diffraction gratings that fulfill this function. In both direct- and indirect-drive ICF, the symmetry of the capsule as it compresses is crucial. The NIF will have 48 clusters of four beams incident on targets. Optimization of Beam Angles for the National Ignition Facility (p. 15) presents the rationale used to assign beam angles for cylindrical indirect drive while still allowing direct-drive and tetrahedral indirect-drive experiments to be performed