Laser energetics and propagation modelling for the NIF

Design, activation, and operation of modern high-energy, fusion-class lasers rely heavily on accurate simulation of laser performance. Setup, equipment protection, and data interpretation of the National Ignition Facility(1) (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are being controlled by a Laser Performance Operations Model (LPOM) (2), which, at its core, utilizes a Virtual Beam Line (VBL) simulation code to predict laser energetics, wavefront, near- and far-field beam profiles, and damage risk prior to each shot. This same simulation tool is being used widely to understand such diverse phenomena as regenerative-amplifier saturation, damage inspection system performance, fratricide risk from small-scale flaws in large optics, converter performance, and conjugate image formation.