Nuclear Science Experiments at the University of Rochester’s Omega Laser Facility

C. J. Forrest^a, V. Yu. Glebov^a, J. P. Knauer^a, P. B. Radha^a, S. P. Regan^a, T. C. Sangster^a,
W. U. Schroeder^b, A. Schwemmlein^a, and C. Stoeckl^a

^aLaboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14623

^bDepartments of Chemistry and Physics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627

Exploring nuclear science and astrophysics using high-energy-density–physics (HEDP) plasmas is an emerging field leveraging a national program. The MJ-class National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the kJ-class Omega Laser Facility at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) have unique capabilities to create an HEDP plasma with conditions that are similar to the interior of a star to study reactions relevant to stellar nucleosynthesis (SN) and big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), and generate a bright monoenergetic fusion neutron source to induce the breakup of light-Z nuclei. In addition, recent experiments have demonstrated nuclear reactions initiated by laser-accelerated deuterons and tritons onto solid targets using the OMEGA EP laser. This motivated the development of a new platform to explore light-ion nuclear reactions using a tritium beam with the joint capabilities of OMEGA/OMEGA EP (T-LIANS). This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE NA0003856.