Progress in 2 mm glow discharge polymer mandrel development for NIF

All planned National Ignition Facility (NIF) capsule, targets except machined beryllium require a glow discharge polymer (GDP) mandrel upon which the ablator is applied. This mandrel, similar to 2 mm in diameter, must at least meet if not exceed the symmetry and surface finish requirements of the final capsule. Such mandrels are currently produced by the three-step depolymerizable mandrel technique.(1) The quality of the final mandrel depends upon precise optimization and execution of each of the three steps. We had shown previously that fabrication of a mandrel which met the symmetry and surface finish requirements was feasible using this technique. In this paper we will discuss recent progress towards converting this process into a high yield, production scale process.