Design of an Inertial Fusion Energy Target Tracking and Position Prediction System

Driver beams must hit targets accurately in an inertial fusion energy power plant. Current requirements are less than ±200 μm for indirect drive targets and ±20 μm for direct drive targets. A recent target tracking and position prediction experiment was carried out using indirect drive target sized...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fusion technology 2001-03, Vol.39 (2P2), p.678-683
Main Authors: Petzoldt, Ronald W., Cherry, Michael, Alexander, Neil B., Goodin, Daniel T., Besenbruch, Gottfried E., Schultz, Ken R., Atomics, General
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Controled nuclear fusion plants
Detectors
Diffraction
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Exact sciences and technology
Extrapolation
Fusion reactors
Inertial confinement fusion
Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy
Lasers
Particle beams
Photodiodes
Power plants
Spurious signal noise
Tracking (position)
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Summary:Driver beams must hit targets accurately in an inertial fusion energy power plant. Current requirements are less than ±200 μm for indirect drive targets and ±20 μm for direct drive targets. A recent target tracking and position prediction experiment was carried out using indirect drive target sized projectiles. 1 The results of that scaled experiment extrapolate to a standard deviation of 220 μm error in position prediction at power plant size. Greater accuracy will be required, especially for direct drive targets. Greater standoff between the detectors and the targets (previously about 3 cm) will also be required to allow for detector shielding. Diffraction effects are expected to be more important with greater standoff and accuracy requirements. An improved optical target tracking and position prediction system is being designed, as part of the Target Injection and Tracking Experiment at General Atomics, to achieve the above requirements. Concepts for improving accuracy include the use of multiple photodiode arrays, a temperature controlled environment, vibration-limiting detector mounts, additional detector stations, improved electronic noise suppression, and constant-brightness laser light sources. The current status of this design work is presented.
ISSN:0748-1896
DOI:10.13182/FST01-A11963317