Transmissive Final Optic for Laser IFE S. A. Payne, J. F. Latkowski, A. Kubota, M. J. Caturla, S. N. Dixit, and J. A. Speth Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory April 4, 2002 HAPL Program Workshop General Atomics, San Diego, California
We have completed our study of the fused silica final optic (FO) option for 0.35 µm light, based on a thin Fresnel lens Goal is to define the operating window for thin SiO 2 FO solution: Comparison of SiO 2 with other robust optical materials Effect of neutrons and gammas on optical properties Thermal management of laser heating with radiative cooling Accommodation of focusing, beam deflection, and smoothing Several additional issues may need to be addressed: Transient response to neutrons (LANL) X-ray ablation of the surface Ion sputtering of the surface Shrapnel from the target
We have directly compared the absorption at 0.35 µm produced by 1 Mrad of neutrons for SiO 2, MgF 2, CaF 2 and Al 2 O 3 (ACRR, Sandia) Absorption Coefficient α (cm- 1 ) 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 1 Mrad dose on ACRR Al 2 O 3 UV SiO 2 0.35 µm = λ laser MgF 2 Optical Material Absorption at 0.35 µm, α(cm -1 ) SiO 2 0.03 Al 2 O 3 0.45 MgF 2 0.15 0.5 CaF 2 0.0 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Wavelength (nm) CaF 2 0.45 SiO 2 yields least absorption at 0.35 µm for given neutron dose
Neutron-induced defect formation has been studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations (MDS) and absorption spectroscopy 1.0 Absorption spectrum (1 Mrad) 1 Mrad dose on ACRR, UV grade SiO 2 MDS Absorption (OD) 0.8 0.6 0.4 E Center 0.2 0.0 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Wavelength (nm) Experimentally, 35 defects are created per 1 MeV neutron collision Based on MDS, ~ 400 are predicted Difference due to slow (>psec) recombination
Simple mechanism of defect creation and annealing is supported by several observations Normal lattice Si O Si Si.. Si O Si Normal lattice MeV n o and γ-rays O Si NBOHC E Center Annealing Spectra of E and Non-Bridging Oxygen Holes Centers (NBOHCs) observed E centers and NBOHCs are formed in nearly equal number Complete elimination of defects by thermal annealing is possible Model is consistent with Molecular Dynamics Simulations
We have observed radiation-annealing in an optical material for the first time SiO 2 samples irradiated at LANSCE for 11 rad 10 1.0 E Center 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 Sample C53 (irrad. @ 105 C 0.5 C55 (179 o C) 0.4 C57 (426 o C) NBOHC 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 O.D. Wavelength (nm) Number of Defects Multiple recoils in same location (MDS) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 Time (ps) Low dose (1 Mrad) results, on prior vugraph, indicate 35 defects are formed per 1 MeV neutron collision High dose (10 5 Mrad) results, above, suggest 0.007 defects / collision Hypothesis is that overlapping collisional cascades give rise to radiation annealing Molecular Dynamics Simulations (MDS), above, reveal defects saturate after 5 cascades
As test of our radiation-annealing theory, measured and calculated collisional cascade volumes are compared Measured volume of collisional cascade: N sat = M n / V col Saturated defects, 1.8 x 10 18 cm -3 35 defects created per 1 MeV neutron Collisional cascade volume, 1.9 x 10-17 cm 3 Measured: V col = 200 nm 3 per 1 kev recoil Theory: 200 nm 3 box is compared with distribution of defects from MDS
Annealing of defects has been quantified at two temperatures O.D. 0.3 0.2 Reduction in absorption from annealing at 380 o C SiO 2 irradiated at 105 o C (Sample C53); thermally annealed at 380 NBOHC E Center Annealed for 15 min. Before Annealing 0.1 1 hr 96 hr 72 hr 48 hr 0.0 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Wavelength (nm) o C Optical Density 0.12 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00 Annealed at 300 o C Annealed at 380 o C 0 50 100 150 200 250 Annealing Time (hours) Fit to: τ anneal = τ 0 exp (+ T anneal / T) T anneal = 21,000 o K and τ 0 = 4 10-10 sec
e r u t a r e p m e T 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 Final optic must be < 0.5 mm thickness to avert excessive losses or temperature rise Temperature (C) 100 0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 Thickness (mm) Laser absorption (%) 20 15 10 5 L a s e r a b s o r p t i o Based on radiative cooling with 0.5 mm thickness: T = 300 o C f abs = 5% absorption Cooling from one-side only (most conservative) has no effect on focus (second order effect Ω bend2 ): Ω bend = α exp f abs F laser ν rep d optic / 2 κ = 0.5 mrad
Final optic design is off-axis Fresnel lens for focusing and deflection Line-of-sight clearance distance = 20 m f = 20 m 0.35 µm beams Expanded view of the outermost zones Focus 32 cm Schematic of a 2 x 5 Fresnel lens cluster λ n 1 = 0.73 µm (etch depth) 8.8 µm (zone width) 20 cm
Combination of Fresnel lens and phase plate to yield spot size of ~3 mm for direct drive target Calculation includes effects of 1 THz bandwidth Calculated transmission efficiency is 99 % for linear grooves
Description of neutron-induced defects for SiO 2 under IFE conditions Temperature of optic, T SiO2 = 300 o C: Q heat = α abs d SiO2 F laser ν rep + F view σ [T cham 4 T SiO24 ] Q cool = ε σ [T SiO2 4 T surr4 ] Annealing time, τ anneal = 916 hrs: τ anneal = τ 0 d SiO2 exp[t anneal / T SiO2 ] Defect Concentration, N defect =1.8 x 10 18 cm -3 : dn E / dt = M n (σ n N SiO2 ) φ n [(N sat N E ) / N sat ] N E / τ anneal Laser absorption, f abs (0.35µm) = 5% Thinner optic would be advantageous
Summary of IFE deployment issues for off-axis Fresnel lens Issue Amelioration Absorption of 10%/mm Scatter loss of 0.6 %/mm Thickness of <0.5 mm Heating of optic Fabrication 1 mm easy, 0.5 mm achievable, 0.25 mm possible Density increase (saturates at 2.6 %) Pre-treat optics to radiation Avoiding optical damage Laser fluence of ~1.5 J/cm 2 Optical bandwidth (1 THz) Minor effect on focus Misalignment / bending
Aluminum mirrors, dielectric mirrors, and transmissive optics are all candidates for the IFE final optic Aluminum mirror <10 nm evanescent wave grazing incidence 3ω and 4ω Dielectric mirror ~10 µm optical depth arbitrary reflection angle 3ω and 4ω Transmissive optic ~ 0.5 mm path length few degree deflection 3ω only Radiation hardness studies of dielectric mirrors are planned Common constituents are SiO 2, ZrO 2, HfO 2, Ta 2 O 5, MgF 2 HfO 2, Ta 2 O 5 are neutron absorbers, and become highly radioactive High damage threshold SiO 2 - ZrO 2 mirrors planned for irradiations predict 0.2 rem / hr after 100 Mrad dose on HFER at ORNL