Detailed diagnosis of double shell collision using X-ray radiography under realistic implosion conditions

Abstract

In this work we will present the first measurement of the time history of a collision of two shells in a double shell capsule. Double shell implosions provide a non-cryogenic path to inertial confinement fusion [ICF]. In the double shell target the laser energy is absorbed in an outer shell that is accelerated inward which then, after the laser is off, collides with an inner shell. The inner shell then implodes against the deuterium fuel. We use radiography to diagnose the symmetry and the hydrodynamics of the implosion. At the OMEGA laser at LLE, we point 40 beams in an offset geometry to implode the doube shell target and use the remaining 20 beams to perform radiography from two different directions. This is the first measurement of such a collision in a spherical geometry and is of great interest to the verification of the code we used. In this work we will present the first measurement of the time history of a collision of two spherical shells in a double shell capsule.