Target Area Design of an Inertial Confinement Fusion Laser Driver Compatible with Multiple Irradiation Configurations of Targets

The target area of a 288-beam inertial confinement fusion laser driver was designed to allow lasers for direct-drive illumination, spherical hohlraum with six laser entrance holes (6LEHs), and baseline cylindrical hohlraums. The suggested radius of a target chamber was 6.0 m based on the ratio of the total port area to chamber area. Beam port distribution on the chamber was calculated if the direct propagation of laser beams into opposing beam ports was avoided, and this distribution was compatible with spherical hohlraums with 6LEHs without additional ports opened. According to the symmetry of the beam port distribution, an X-shaped beam-guiding system (BGS) in the switchyard was proposed and arranged within a baseline algorithm. The switch between direct- and indirect-drive modes was easy to operate using this BGS concept.