Experimental target injection and tracking system

Targets must be injected into an IFE power plant with an accuracy of 5 mm at a rate of approximately 5 to 10 each second. Targets must be tracked very accurately to allow driver beams to be aligned with defined points on the targets with accuracy 200 mum for indirect drive and +/-20 mum for direct drive. An experimental target injection and tracking system has been designed and is being constructed at General Atomics to investigate injection and tracking of both direct drive and indirect drive targets. The design is modular to allow testing of alternate target acceleration and tracking methods. The injector system will be used as a tool for testing the survivability of various target designs and provide feed back to the target designers. This 30 m long system will be the centerpiece of a Facility for developing IFE target fabrication and injection technologies.