The National Ignition Facility: laser system, beam line design, and construction

Richard H. Sawicki

doi:10.1117/12.538480

28 May 2004 The National Ignition Facility: laser system, beam line design, and construction

Richard H. Sawicki

Proceedings Volume 5341, Optical Engineering at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory II: The National Ignition Facility; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.538480
Event: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2004, San Jose, Ca, United States

Abstract

The construction of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) building and laser beampaths at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been completed. This 8-year design/construction effort has successfully erected a 450,000 sq ft building and filled its interior with a complex of large-scale optical benches. These benches support all of the largeaperture optic elements of the NIF and the environmentally controlled enclosures that protect each of the 192 laser beamlines as they propagate from the injection laser system, through large aperture amplification stages, and into the target chamber. Even though this facility is very large, nearly 200 m long, 100 m wide, and 30 m tall, stringent mechanical performance requirements have been achieved throughout including temperature control <0.3°C, laserbeam pointing stability on target <50 μrms, and level 100 surface cleanliness on internal components. This presentation will provide an historical perspective explaining the basis of the design, technical details describing the techniques of construction and a chronological progression of the construction activities from ground breaking to beampath completion.

Citation Download Citation

Richard H. Sawicki "The National Ignition Facility: laser system, beam line design, and construction", Proc. SPIE 5341, Optical Engineering at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory II: The National Ignition Facility, (28 May 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.538480

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