Experiments to simulate X-ray damage to the first wall of the inertial confinement fusion laboratory microfusion facility

A critical issue in the design of the inertial confinement fusion laboratory microfusion facility (LMF) is the vaporization of material from the target chamber walls by the target X-rays. One concern is the high pressures on the unvaporized portion of the wall that occur because of the high instantaneous intensity of the X-rays. The high pressures lead to the launching of shock waves into the material, which can cause further damage. Computational and experimental investigations into this problem are discussed. Experiments on sample first-wall materials have been fielded on the SATURN gas pinch X-ray source at Sandia National Laboratories. Some types of graphite and aluminum have been found to survive X-ray pulses that are of similar energy fluence, photon energy, and intensity to those that would be experienced on the first wall of the LMF. Additional experiments and further analysis of the irradiated samples is expected in the near future