Effects of Pyrolysis on GDP Oxygen Uptake and Density

Glow discharge polymer (GDP) is used to create capsules which are used for a variety of shot types at the National Ignition Facility and are a key part in the investigation of inertial confinement fusion. The GDP capsules are used to contain the deuterium and tritium used as fuel in the fusion reaction. Partly due to its amorphous structure, GDP can have different properties with even minor changes to creation conditions. Understanding the physical properties of the samples is imperative for shot simulations and the resulting shot yield. A necessary process in capsule creation is pyrolysis, and while there have been studies on GDP's properties before pyrolysis, there have not been many that focus on how its properties change due to pyrolysis. This project focuses on how oxygen uptake, and density of the GDP are affected by the capsule design (layer thicknesses and dopant concentration). We also investigated how these parameters were affected by pyrolysis by taking measurements before and after pyrolysis.