Target Fabrication

NIF targets are complicated engineering marvels in tiny packages. Creating them requires interplay among target designers, materials scientists, and precision engineers. The laser drives a target capsule inward at nearly a million miles an hour. Because the targets are subjected to extreme temperatures (greater than those in the Sun) and pressures (similar to those found in the core of Jupiter) during experiments, the targets must be designed, fabricated, and assembled with extreme precision. For example, components must be machined to within an accuracy of 1 micron (1 millionth of a meter). Many material structures and features can be no larger than 100 nanometers, which is just 1/1,000th the width of a human hair. And a capsule must have a smoothness tolerance approaching 1 nanometer—equivalent to removing all features on the Earth’s surface taller than 60 meters (about 200 feet).