Planar and cylindrical Rayleigh-Taylor experiments on Nova (HEP2)

Abstract

A high-density fluid on top of a low-density fluid is Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) unstable. Driven by gravity, random perturbations at the interface between the two fluids will grow: fingers ({open_quotes}spikes{close_quotes}) of the heavier fluid will poke through the lighter fluid, and bubbles of the lighter fluid will rise into the heavier fluid. The RT instability and its shock-driven analog, the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability, have been a focus of research in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) for some time. In ICF, the driver - laser light, x rays, or ions - heats the outer layer of the capsule wall, causing it to ionize and expand rapidly. The result is a low-density ablated plasma accelerating the high-density capsule wall ({open_quotes}Pusher{close_quotes}). The ablation front is RT unstable, and outer-surface imperfections grow. This growth can seed perturbations at the pusher inner wall, which in turn become RT unstable during deceleration and stagnation. Ultimately, pusher material can mix into the fuel, degrading performance.