Measuring implosion dynamics through rhoR evolution in inertial-confinement fusion experiments.
The areal density (rhoR) of D3He filled plastic capsules imploded at OMEGA has been measured at shock coalescence (1.7 ns) and, 400 ps later, during compressive burn, through the energy downshift of 14.7-MeV D3He protons. In this time interval, the azimuthally averaged rhoR changes from 13+/-2.5 to 70+/-8 mg/cm(2). The experiments demonstrate that fuel-shell mix is absent in the central regions at shock coalescence, and that the shell has no holes during compressive burn. We conjecture that rhoR asymmetries measured during compressive burn may be seeded by the time of shock coalescence.
Petrasso
R D
RD
Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Frenje
J A
JA
Li
C K
CK
Séguin
F H
FH
Rygg
J R
JR
Schwartz
B E
BE
Kurebayashi
S
S
Radha
P B
PB
Stoeckl
C
C
Soures
J M
JM
Delettrez
J
J
Glebov
V Yu
VY
Meyerhofer
D D
DD
Sangster
T C
TC