Hydrodynamic instability measurements in DT-layered ICF capsules using the layered-HGR platform

Abstract

The first measurements of hydrodynamic instability growth at the fuel-ablator interface in an ICF implosion are reported. Previous instability measurements on the National Ignition Facility have used plastic capsules to measure ablation front Rayleigh-Taylor growth with the Hydro.-Growth Radiography (HGR) platform. These capsules substituted an additional thickness of plastic ablator material in place of the cryogenic layer of Deuterium- Tritium (DT) fuel. The present experiments are the first to include a DT ice layer, which enables measurements of the instability growth occurring at the fuel-ablator interface. Instability growth at the fuel-ablator interface is seeded differently in two independent NIF experiments. In the first case, a perturbation on the outside of the capsule feeds through and grows on the interface. Comparisons to an implosion without a fuel layer produce a measure of the fuel's modulation. In the second case, a modulation was directly machined on the inner ablator before the fuel layer was added. The measurement of growth in these two scenarios are compared to 2D rad-hydro modeling.