Demonstration of high-energy 2 omega (526.5 nm) operation on the National Ignition Facility Laser System.

A single beamline of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has been operated at a wavelength of 526.5 nm (2 omega) by frequency converting the fundamental 1053 nm (1 omega) wavelength with an 18.2 mm thick type-I potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) second-harmonic generator (SHG) crystal. Second-harmonic energies of up to 17.9 kJ were measured at the final optics focal plane with a conversion efficiency of 82%. For a similarly configured 192-beam NIF, this scales to a total 2 omega energy of 3.4 MJ full NIF equivalent (FNE).

National Ignition Facility laser performance status.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world's largest laser system. It contains a 192 beam neodymium glass laser that is designed to deliver 1.8 MJ at 500 TW at 351 nm in order to achieve energy gain (ignition) in a deuterium-tritium nuclear fusion target. To meet this goal, laser design criteria include the ability to generate pulses of up to 1.8 MJ total energy, with peak power of 500 TW and temporal pulse shapes spanning 2 orders of magnitude at the third harmonic (351 nm or 3omega) of the laser wavelength. The focal-spot fluence distribution of these pulses is carefully controlled, through a combination of special optics in the 1omega (1053 nm) portion of the laser (continuous phase plates), smoothing by spectral dispersion, and the overlapping of multiple beams with orthogonal polarization (polarization smoothing). We report performance qualification tests of the first eight beams of the NIF laser. Measurements are reported at both 1omega and 3omega, both with and without focal-spot conditioning. When scaled to full 192 beam operation, these results demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, that the NIF will meet its laser performance design criteria, and that the NIF can simultaneously meet the temporal pulse shaping, focal-spot conditioning, and peak power requirements for two candidate indirect drive ignition designs.

The manager's role as coach and mentor.

By serving as mentors, managers can help employees expand their capabilities and improve their performance, but first a manager must create the proper climate and develop the specific skills needed for effective coaching.

Sharpening stellar images.

Atmospherically induced phase perturbations have for years limited the resolution of large optical astronomical telescopes. A prototype telescope system with six movable elements has successfully corrected these phase perturbations. This use of real-time image sharpening has restored stellar images to the diffraction limit (in one dimension) for a 30-centimeter telescope. The double-star image presented indicates that the bulk of the atmospherically induced wave-front phase change occurred within 2 kilometers of the telescope. This implies that, at least for conditions similar to those of our measurement, real-time correction can be accomplished simultaneously for a region at least several arc seconds in angular size. With the present apparatus the technique should be practical for objects as dim as fifth magnitude, and with improvements the technique holds the promise of active image restoration for objects as dim as ninth magnitude.