Resistive diffusion in magnetized ICF implosions: Reduced magnetic stabilization of the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability

Abstract

Resistive diffusion is typically regarded to be negligible in magnetized ICF experiments, with magnetic flux effectively compressed during the implosion. In this work the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability at the ice-ablator interface is taken as an example for investigating resistive effects. For a high temperature (≈100eV) interface with magnetic field applied perpendicular to shock propagation, perturbation growth is suppressed by magnetic tension. However, for lower temperature interfaces the resistive diffusion prevents substantial magnetic field twisting at small scales. ICF implosion simulations are then used to assess magnetic diffusivity at different interfaces; the ice-ablator interface is found to be too resistive for the magnetic fields to enhance stability. For Rayleigh–Taylor growth at the hot-spot edge, on the other hand, resistivity is estimated to only be a secondary effect, as seen in previous simulation studies.