Impeding Hohlraum Plasma Stagnation in Inertial-Confinement Fusion
This Letter reports the first time-gated proton radiography of the spatial structure and temporal evolution of how the fill gas compresses the wall blowoff, inhibits plasma jet formation, and impedes plasma stagnation in the hohlraum interior. The potential roles of spontaneously generated electric...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71536 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6919-4881 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0489-7479 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4969-5571 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1020-3501 |
| Summary: | This Letter reports the first time-gated proton radiography of the spatial structure and temporal evolution of how the fill gas compresses the wall blowoff, inhibits plasma jet formation, and impedes plasma stagnation in the hohlraum interior. The potential roles of spontaneously generated electric and magnetic fields in the hohlraum dynamics and capsule implosion are discussed. It is shown that interpenetration of the two materials could result from the classical Rayleigh-Taylor instability occurring as the lighter, decelerating ionized fill gas pushes against the heavier, expanding gold wall blowoff. This experiment showed new observations of the effects of the fill gas on x-ray driven implosions, and an improved understanding of these results could impact the ongoing ignition experiments at the National Ignition Facility. |
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