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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
J. F. Hund, J. W. Crippen, K. Clark, N. Martinez, D. J. Jasion, M. P. Farrell, D. T. Frey
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 63 | Number 2 | March-April 2013 | Pages 252-256
Technical Paper | Selected papers from 20th Target Fabrication Meeting, May 20-24, 2012, Santa Fe, NM, Guest Editor: Robert C. Cook | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A16346
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The National Ignition Campaign (NIC) target consists of precisely machined and assembled components. A subset of the components of this target is the aluminum shielding around the silicon support and cooling arms, which is designed to alleviate harmful unconverted light reflecting from the arms into the laser optics. This NIC target shielding consists of two external shields and four inner shields located between the arms. Recently, we have developed a process to add a plastic coating to the shields with precisely defined edges that can survive pressing the part into a three-dimensional shape. After this process was demonstrated on prototypes, it was further refined to improve yield and is currently being used to fabricate and deliver parts for NIC experiments on a regular basis. The final process that we developed consists of seven steps to fabricate these shields: (1) applying a photolithographed plastic layer to electrically isolate the shields from the electrical traces on the cooling arms, (2) plasma etching to improve adhesion during the subsequent aluminum coating, (3) large-batch electron-beam aluminum coating, (4) laser cutting and custom die cutting to various shapes and specified patterns, (5) utilizing heat pressing techniques that soften the plastic coating enough to be coined into a three-dimensional shape, (6) accurate positioning and bonding of Mylar liners under the tops of the shields, and (7) final characterization. Through these process steps high process yields were achieved against the rigorous NIC requirements.