NIF neutron bang-time detector prototype test on OMEGA

Summary form only given. The time interval between the beginning of the laser pulse and the peak of neutron emission (bang time) in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments is an important characteristic of the implosion, directly comparable with numerical simulation. For this reason, neutron bang time (NBT) detectors have been successfully operated on ICF facilities such as Nova and OMEGA lasers and have been proposed as a core diagnostic for the National Ignition Facility (NIF). A prototype of an NBT detector suitable for the NIF has been built and tested on the 60-beam OMEGA laser system. The prototype has two channels: The first, more-sensitive channel consists of a fast scintillator coupled with a micro-channel-plate photomultiplier tube. The second, less-sensitive channel is based on a synthetic diamond crystal produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The signals from the two NBT prototype channels are recorded on a fast digital oscilloscope. Absolute timing was accomplished using the OMEGA optical fiducial system. Prototype characterization and comparison of the timing accuracy with a streak camera-based neutron temporal diagnostic (NTD) are presented.