NIF Home > Programs > PS&A > Advanced Radiography

TEXT SIZE

Advanced Radiography:
Laser-based X-rays and Gamma-rays

The advanced radiography and energetic systems (ARES) program element of PS&A develops technology required for cutting-edge, short-duration X-ray radiography on NIF and laser-like, mono-energetic gamma-ray (MEGa-ray) source technologies for relevant Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Nuclear Security Administration and U.S. Department of Energy missions.

T-REX Gamma-ray SourceThe T-REX gamma-ray source is LLNL's first MEGa-ray system and is the world's highest peak brightness million-electron-volt-class light source.

MEGa-ray sources and related nuclear missions concepts were conceived of and realized over the course of the last five years. MEGa-rays created by Compton scattering short-duration laser pulses from relativistic electrons are a new class of light source with extraordinary qualities. The peak brightness of a MEGa-ray pulse can be 15 orders of magnitude beyond any other man-made light in the million-electron-volt (MeV) spectral range.

This revolutionary leap enables new solutions to an astonishingly wide variety of critical and near-term national needs. MEGa-rays can be used to solve the grand challenge of finding and detecting highly enriched uranium; provide a unique tool for performing quantitative assay and imaging of nuclear waste and nuclear fuel systems; enable in-situ 3-D isotope-specific images of aging nuclear weapons; permit fundamental advances in stockpile science by providing picosecond temporal snapshots of isotope positions and velocities in turbulent mix systems; and provide a fundamental new tool for understanding and reinvigorating nuclear physics.

NIF's Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) uses and extends LLNL's expertise in high-energy petawatt lasers to enable multiframe, hard-X-ray radiography of imploding NIF capsules – a capability which is critical to the success of NIF's mission.

The system will also play a critical role in prospective studies of fast-ignition physics on NIF. Moreover, by coherent addition of pulses from multiple ARC apertures – similar to how modern astronomy uses coherent addition of light from many small mirrors to achieve the focusing resolution and light-gathering power of a much larger mirror – future additions to NIF-ARC may utilize coherent addition of pulses to produce exawatt-class (1018 watt) peak powers and ultra-high focal intensities unachievable from single-aperture lasers.

Top of Page
Privacy & Legal Notice UCRL-WEB-416029