Development of a New Horizontal Rotary GDP Coater Enabling Increased Production

Providing glow discharge polymer (GDP) coatings is a key step in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) target production. Typical target delivery quantities may require several GDP coating runs consisting of up to 80 mandrels per batch. This work undertakes research and development to create a new configuration for the GDP coating apparatus that will enable batch sizes into the hundreds or thousands. This will reduce costs associated with target production and make delivery of ICF targets more efficient. In addition, there is a synergy between this work and Inertial Fusion Energy's (IFE's) need for half a million targets per day for energy production, as well as future commercial applications. Recently we have demonstrated the capability to meet the NIF CH surface standard, confirmed via statistical sampling, in a 400 capsule batch coated with 10 m of GDP, a key benchmark for successful coatings.