[en] As shown elsewhere an ablatively imploded shell is hydrodynamically unstable, the dominant instability being the well known Rayleigh-Taylor instability with growth rate γ = √Akg where k = 2π/λ is the wave number, g is the acceleration and A the Attwood number (ρ_hi - ρ_lo)/(ρ_hi + ρ_lo) where ρ_hi is the density of the heavier fluid and ρ_lo is the density of the lighter fluid. A theoretical understanding of ablative stabilization has gradually evolved, confirmed over the last five years by experiments. The linear growth is very well understood with excellent agreement between experiment and simulation for planar geometry with wavelengths in the region of 30--100μm. There is an accurate, albeit phenomenological dispersion relation. The non-linear growth has been measured and agrees with calculations. In this lecture, the authors go into the fundamentals of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and the experimental measurements that show it is stabilized sufficiently by ablation in regimes relevant to ICF

[en] For many years there has been an active ICF program in the US concentrating on x-ray drive. X-ray drive is produced by focusing laser beams into a high Z hohlraum. Conceptually, the radiation field comes close to thermodynamic equilibrium, that is it becomes isotropic and Planckian. These properties lead to the benefits of x-ray drive--it is relatively easy to obtain drive symmetry on a capsule with no small scalelengths drive perturbations. Other advantages of x-ray drive is the higher mass ablation rate, leading to lower growth rates for hydrodynamic instabilities. X-ray drive has disadvantages, principally the loss of energy to the walls of the hohlraum. This report is divided into the following sections: (1) review of blackbody radiation; (2) laser absorption and conversion to x-rays; (3) x-ray absorption coefficient in matter and Rosseland mean free path; (4) Marshak waves in high Z material; (5) x-ray albedo; and (6) power balance and hohlraum temperature

[en] To define the development work needed to support inertial confinement fusion (ICF) program goals, the authors have assembled this Core Science and Technology (CS and T) Plan that encompasses nearly all science research and technology development in the ICF program. The objective of the CS and T Plan described here is to identify the development work needed to ensure the success of advanced ICF facilities, in particular the National Ignition Facility (NIF). This plan is intended as a framework to facilitate planning and coordination of future ICF programmatic activities. The CS and T Plan covers all elements of the ICF program including laser technology, optic manufacturing, target chamber, target diagnostics, target design and theory, target components and fabrication, and target physics experiments. The CS and T Plan has been divided into these seven different technology development areas, and they are used as level-1 categories in a work breakdown structure (WBS) to facilitate the organization of all activities in this plan. The scope of the CS and T Plan includes all research and development required to support the NIF leading up to the activation and initial operation as an indirect-drive facility. In each of the CS and T main development areas, the authors describe the technology and issues that need to be addressed to achieve NIF performance goals. To resolve all issues and achieve objectives, an extensive assortment of tasks must be performed in a coordinated and timely manner. The authors describe these activities and present planning schedules that detail the flow of work to be performed over a 10-year period corresponding to estimated time needed to demonstrate fusion ignition with the NIF. Besides the benefits to the ICF program, the authors also discuss how the commercial sector and the nuclear weapons science may profit from the proposed research and development program

[en] The NOVA mix experiments are designed to study mix between two dissimilar materials subjected to strong (M/approximately/50) shocks and variable accelerations in a direction normal to their common boundary. The main purpose of the experiments is to provide a data base with which predictive models can be compared and normalized. Together with shock tube experiments, which explore a different regime, the current NOVA tests investigate the shock induced source terms in our model and the evolution of both Rayleigh-Taylor stable and unstable interfaces. 3 refs., 9 figs

[en] Experiments relevant to laser compression carried out by scientists from Imperial College, Queens University of Belfast, University of Essex, University of Hull, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, at the Central Laser Facility in the United Kingdom are described. The Central Laser Facility operates a six-beam laser system at 1.05 μm or 0.53 μm, giving 1kJ or 0.5 kJ pulses x-ray backlighting and two approaches to x-ray framing cameras are described. Two phenomena relevant to compression, namely thermal conductivity and hydrodynamic instabilities are described. Thermal conductivity experiments with time resolved x-ray spectroscopy and optical interferograms measure a heat flux up to 10% of the free-streaming limit, and no 'foot' to the temperature front. Rayleigh-Taylor experiments with a single mode indicate growth rates about 0.3 times classical growth rate, with some evidence for saturation. Experiments on the symmetry of irradiation possible at λ = 0.53 μm, show that comparatively large defocci, up to d/R ≅ 4, are required

[en] A key objective of the US Inertial Confinement Fusion Program is to obtain high yield (100-1000 MJ) implosions in a laboratory environment. This requires high grain from an inertial fusion target from a driver capable of delivering about 10 MJ. Recent results have been sufficiently encouraging that the US Department of Energy is planning for such a capability called the Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF). In the past two years, we have conducted implosion-related experiments with approximately 20 kJ of 0.35-μm laser light in 1-ns temporally flat-topped pulses. These experiments were done with the Nova laser, the primary US facility devoted to radiatively driven inertial confinement fusion. Our results show that we can accurately model a significant fraction of the phenomena required to obtain the fuel conditions needed for high gain. Both the x-ray conversion efficiency and the growth of Rayleigh-Taylor hydrodynamic instabilities are shown to be at acceptable levels. Targets designed so that the shape of the stagnated fuel can be imaged show that the x-ray drive in our hohlraums can be made isotropic to better than 3%. With this optimized drive and temporally unshaped laser pulses many critical implosion parameters are measured on targets designed for higher density. Good agreement is obtained with one-dimensional simulations. Maximum compressions of between 20--30 in radius are measured with a variety of diagnostics. Improvements in the driver technology are demonstrated; we anticipate operation of Nova at the 50-kJ level at 3ω. 18 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

[en] High gain inertial confinement fusion will most readily be achieved with hot spot ignition, where a small mass of gaseous fuel is compressed to a high density and heated to ∼10 keV, igniting a cooler, surrounding fuel. Recent laser driven implosions have achieved high shell density but without a well defined hot spot. X-ray driven implosions require high hohlraum drive pressure and symmetry. Eight years of experiments on Nova have led to a relatively comprehensive understanding of the energetics and symmetry of laser heated hohlraums. Relatively simple models can explain most of the features observed these experiments. Detailed 2-D Lasnex simulations satisfactorily reproduce Nova's drive and symmetry scaling data bases, giving it credibility as a target design tool for the proposed National Ignition Facility (NIF). Implosion experiments achieved high convergence ratios (initial capsule radius/final fuel radius) in the range required for ignition scale capsules, and resulted in an imploded configuration of high density glass with hot gas fill, equivalent to the hot spot configuration of ignition scale capsules

[en] We have examined the underdense plasma conditions of laser irradiated disks using K x-rays from highly ionized ions. A 900 ps laser pulse of 0.532 μm light is used to irradiate various Z disks which have been doped with low concentrations of tracer materials. The tracers whose Z's range from 13 to 22 are chosen so that their K x-ray spectrum is sensitive to typical underdense plasma temperatures and densities. Spectra are measured using a time-resolved crystal spectrograph recording the time history of the x-ray spectrum. A spatially-resolved, time-integrated crystal spectrograph also monitors the x-ray lines. Large differences in Al spectra are observed when the host plasma is changed from SiO₂ to PbO or In. Spectra will be presented along with preliminary analysis of the data

[en] Calculations of x-ray driven igniting implosions require several critical parameters which have been separately tested on Nova, viz., acceptable levels of SBS and SRS from plasmas equivalent to the plasmas in igniting hohlraums, quantitative understanding of radiation temperature in gas-filled hohlraums, demonstration of control of drive symmetry in gas-filled hohlraums, low levels of seeding of hydrodynamic instabilities from surfaces, especially cryogenic deuterium tritium ice, and quantitative understanding of the mix of cold fuel into a hot spot in high growth factor implosions. 14 refs

[en] The U.S. Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program evolved from the Nuclear Test Program which had restricted shot opportunities for experimentalists to develop sophisticated experimental techniques. In contrast the ICF program in the US was able to increase the shot availability on its large facilities, and develop sophisticated targets and diagnostics to measure and understand the properties of the high energy density plasmas (HEDP) formed. Illustrative aspects of this evolution at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), with examples of the development of diagnostics such as X-ray back-lighting, gated X-ray imaging development, fast electron transport, are described