Study of Rayleigh–Taylor growth in laser irradiated planar SiO{sub 2} targets at ignition-relevant conditions

Journal Article · Mon Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4816032· OSTI ID:22227960

Hager, J. D.; Collins, T. J. B.; Knauer, J. P.; Meyerhofer, D. D.; Sangster, T. C. ^[1]; Smalyuk, V. A. ^[2]

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1. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623-1299 (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) growth experiments were performed on the OMEGA laser [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] using planar SiO{sub 2} targets seeded with a single mode 60-μm wavelength perturbation driven at peak laser intensities up to 9 × 10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2}. These are the first RT measurements in SiO{sub 2} at conditions relevant to direct-drive inertial confinement fusion ignition. The measured average modulation growth rates agree with the 2-D hydrodynamics code DRACO, providing an important step in the development of target ablators that are robust to RT growth and hot- electron preheat considerations when driven at the intensities required to achieve thermonuclear ignition.

• OSTI ID: 22227960
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
D CODES
DISTURBANCES
ELECTRONS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
IRRADIATION
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
MODULATION
NEODYMIUM LASERS
OMEGA FACILITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
SILICON OXIDES
THERMONUCLEAR IGNITION
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
WAVELENGTHS