A review of the ablative stabilization of the Rayleigh--Taylor instability in regimes relevant to inertial confinement fusion
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
- Laboratory for Laser Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623-1299 (United States)
It has been recognized for many years that the most significant limitation of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is the Rayleigh--Taylor (RT) instability. It limits the distance an ablatively driven shell can be moved to several times its initial thickness. Fortunately material flow through the unstable region at velocity [ital v][sub [ital A]] reduces the growth rate to [radical][ital kg]/1+[ital kL][minus][beta][ital kv][sub [ital A]] with [beta] from 2--3. In recent years experiments using both x-ray drive and smoothed laser drive to accelerate foils have confirmed the community's understanding of the ablative RT instability in planar geometry. The growth of small initial modulations on the foils is measured for growth factors up to 60 for direct drive and 80 for indirect drive. For x-ray drive large stabilization is evident. After some growth, the instability enters the nonlinear phase when mode coupling and saturation are also seen and compare well with modeling. Normalized growth rates for direct drive are measured to be higher, but strategies for reduction by raising the isentrope are being investigated. For direct drive, high spatial frequencies are imprinted from the laser beam and amplified by the RT instability. Modeling shows an understanding of this laser imprinting.''
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 5006679
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas; (United States), Vol. 1:5; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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A review of the ablative stabilization of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in regimes relevant to ICF
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LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
ABLATION
INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES
LASER RADIATION
TURBULENCE
X RADIATION
CONFINEMENT
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
INSTABILITY
IONIZING RADIATIONS
PLASMA
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
RADIATIONS
700340* - Plasma Waves
Oscillations
& Instabilities- (1992-)