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Innovations in Target Fabrication Techniques at the University of Michigan

S. R. Klein, E. J. Gamboa, C. M. Huntington, C. C. Kuranz, P. Susalla, S. Chadwick, B. Lairson, D. E. Hoover, F. Elsner, G. Malamud, C. Di Stefano, R. S. Gillespie, R. P. Drake

Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 63 / Number 2 / March-April 2013 / Pages 305-312

Technical Paper / Selected papers from 20th Target Fabrication Meeting, May 20-24, 2012, Santa Fe, NM, Guest Editor: Robert C. Cook / dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A16355

The University of Michigan has been fabricating targets for OMEGA campaigns since 2003. These experiments explore supernova-relevant high-energy-density physics. The complexity of recent target designs has made it necessary to explore new methods of producing components that satisfy experimental needs. Interest in the dynamics of nonaxisymmetric shocks has led to the development of polyimide tubes with noncircular cross sections. For our latest Thomson scattering target, shielding was a very important component to the target design. We employed techniques to bend gold foils, enabling complex geometries without any of the seams inherent when two separate foils are pieced together. Machined acrylic bases are used to support all the components on our targets, contributing further to their repeatability and providing us with a method that eases our build. Here, we present improvements in our techniques, along with our basic tried-and-true methods of producing repeatable targets.