The Center is dedicated to advancing measurement science and diagnostics
The Diagnostics Center excels in measuring and modeling nuclear radiation and particle populations of laboratory fusion environments, including but not limited to alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron products, as well as confined plasma constituents. Leveraging expertise in GEANT4 and MCNP, GA offer advanced capabilities to simulate complex systems, guiding the development of physical hardware. This allows understanding of critical aspects such as particle conversion processes, neutron flux, accumulated dosage, and instrument hardening.
Fast-Ion Deuterium-Alpha (FIDA) Spectroscopy
Working in collaboration with the JT60SA machine in Japan, the FIDA spectroscopic measurement technique is used to infer the energy and spatial distribution of the suprathermal ion population of a plasma. The instrument is being built and characterized at GA and will installed on the JT60SA machine at a future date.
hSLOS
Imploding ICF cores (i.e., targets) at NIF produce x-ray emissions “hot spots” with ~50 micrometer spatial scale and ~100 picosecond duration. The hardened single line-of-sight (hSLOS) diagnostic for the National Ignition Facility acquires a sequence of full-frame X-ray images with ultrafast precision (~25 picosecond frame widths) by using a technique called time-dilation. A pair of hSLOS devices, which are maintained and calibrated at General Atomics, are planned to be used to image the late stages of implosion of a fusion fuel capsule in neutron yields exceeding 1016 neutrons. GA is working with LLNL and Kentech Instruments to develop this hSLOS diagnostic and aims to commission the diagnostic at NIF.
DIXI
Working with Kentech Instruments, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, General Atomics has developed a cutting-edge high-speed imaging diagnostic known as DIXI (Dilation X-ray Imager). installed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at LLNL, DIXI is a high-speed x-ray framing camera that uses the pulse-dilation technique to achieve a temporal resolution (shutter speed) of less than 10 ps.