Improved optical diagnostics for the NOVA laser

This paper describes three diagnostics detecting optical scatter from NOVA laser targets. Detecting such scatter can help to understand instabilities in laser plasmas and to characterize such plasmas, particularly hohlraum plasmas. These diagnostics are the full aperture backscatter station (FABS), presently being built; the oblique scatter array (OSA), just starting operation; and the axial imager, also just starting operation. FABS will allow imaging at high resolution of Brillouin and Raman backscatter. The OSA provides a quantitative measurement of Brillouin and Raman scatter in many directions. The axial imager allows high‐resolution imaging of Brillouin, two‐plasmon decay and Raman scatter emitted toward the direction of the symmetry axis of the NOVA laser beams.