Full aperture backscatter station imager diagnostics system for far-field imaging of laser plasma instabilities on Nova

In ICF, the understanding of laser plasma scattering processes is essential for laser target coupling and for controlling the symmetry of indirect drive implosions. The existing Nova full aperture backscatter station has been useful in understanding laser plasma instabilities occurring in hohlraums by measuring the quantity, spectral distribution, and near-field spatial distributions of Brillouin and more recently Raman backscatter. Equally important is an understanding of the far-field spatial intensity distribution which could help in understanding filamentation, threshold and saturation processes. This article describes a broadband, color-corrected far-field imager and associated diagnostics capable of imaging the source of scattered light to better than 25 μm resolution. Brillouin and Raman backscatter can be imaged through the Nova beam-7 focusing lens or the imager can be used like a microscope to image side scatter from other beams.