Effect of the mounting membrane on shape in inertial confinement fusion implosions
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551-0808 (United States)
The performance of Inertial Confinement Fusion targets relies on the symmetric implosion of highly compressed fuel. X-ray area-backlit imaging is used to assess in-flight low mode 2D asymmetries of the shell. These time-resolved images of the shell exhibit features that can be related to the lift-off position of the membranes used to hold the capsule within the hohlraum. Here, we describe a systematic study of this membrane or “tent” thickness and its impact on the measured low modes for in-flight and self-emission images. The low mode amplitudes of the shell in-flight shape (P{sub 2} and P{sub 4}) are weakly affected by the tent feature in time-resolved, backlit data. By contrast, time integrated self-emission images along the same axis exhibit a reversal in perceived P{sub 4} mode due to growth of a feature seeded by the tent, which can explain prior inconsistencies between the in-flight P{sub 4} and core P{sub 4}, leading to a reevaluation of optimum hohlraum length. Simulations with a tent-like feature normalized to match the feature seen in the backlit images predict a very large impact on the capsule performance from the tent feature.
- OSTI ID:
- 22408120
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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