Nuclear measurements of fuel-shell mix in inertial confinement fusion implosions at OMEGA

Journal Article · Tue May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2671761· OSTI ID:20975064

Rygg, J R; Frenje, J A; Li, C K; Seguin, F H; Petrasso, R D; Delettrez, J A; Glebov, V Yu; Goncharov, V N; Meyerhofer, D D; Radha, P B; Regan, S P; Sangster, T C ^[1]

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1. Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 and Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

Direct drive spherical implosions on the OMEGA laser system [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] have shown that increased capsule convergence results in increased susceptibility to fuel-shell mix. Mix results from saturation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, leading to small-scale, turbulent eddies and atomic-level mixing of the high-density compressed shell with hot, low-density fuel from the core. To sensitively probe the extent of mix, nuclear yields were measured from implosions of capsules filled with pure {sup 3}He. The plastic capsule shell contains a deuterated plastic (CD) layer either on the inner surface or offset from the inner surface by 1 {mu}m. Mixing of D from the shell with hot {sup 3}He in the core is necessary to produce 14.7 MeV D{sup 3}He protons in such capsules. D{sup 3}He-proton spectral measurements have been used to constrain the amount of mix at shock time, to demonstrate that some of the fuel mixes with the offset CD layer, and that capsules with a higher initial fill density or thicker shell are less susceptible to the effects of mix.

• OSTI ID: 20975064
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 14; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CAPSULES
HELIUM 3
IMPLOSIONS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
LASERS
LAYERS
MEV RANGE
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PROBES
PROTONS
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
SHELLS
SHOCK WAVES
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION