Hydrodynamic instability growth of the fuel–ablator interface induced by rippled rarefaction waves in inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments

Yan Zheng; Chen Zhu; Li Jiwei; Wang Lifeng; Li Zhiyuan; Zhang Chao; Ge Fengjun; Wu Junfeng; Zhang Weiyan

doi:10.1063/5.0272289

Volume 10 Issue 5

Sep. 2025

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Yan Zheng, Chen Zhu, Li Jiwei, Wang Lifeng, Li Zhiyuan, Zhang Chao, Ge Fengjun, Wu Junfeng, Zhang Weiyan. Hydrodynamic instability growth of the fuel–ablator interface induced by rippled rarefaction waves in inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2025, 10(5): 057602. doi: 10.1063/5.0272289

Citation:

Yan Zheng, Chen Zhu, Li Jiwei, Wang Lifeng, Li Zhiyuan, Zhang Chao, Ge Fengjun, Wu Junfeng, Zhang Weiyan. Hydrodynamic instability growth of the fuel–ablator interface induced by rippled rarefaction waves in inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2025, 10(5): 057602. doi: 10.1063/5.0272289

Citation:

Yan Zheng, Chen Zhu, Li Jiwei, Wang Lifeng, Li Zhiyuan, Zhang Chao, Ge Fengjun, Wu Junfeng, Zhang Weiyan. Hydrodynamic instability growth of the fuel–ablator interface induced by rippled rarefaction waves in inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2025, 10(5): 057602. doi: 10.1063/5.0272289

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Hydrodynamic instability growth of the fuel–ablator interface induced by rippled rarefaction waves in inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments

doi: 10.1063/5.0272289

Yan Zheng^1
,,
Chen Zhu^1
,,
Li Jiwei^{1, 2
,
,},
Wang Lifeng^{1, 2
,
,
,},
Li Zhiyuan^1
,,
Zhang Chao^1
,,
Ge Fengjun¹,
Wu Junfeng¹,
Zhang Weiyan^{1, 2}

1.
Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094, China
2.
HEDPS, Center for Applied Physics and Technology, and College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

More Information

Corresponding author: a)Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: li_jiwei@iapcm.ac.cn and wang_lifeng@iapcm.ac.cn
Received Date: 2025-03-23
Accepted Date: 2025-07-18

Available Online: 2025-11-28

Publish Date: 2025-09-01

Abstract

Abstract

Hydrodynamic instability growth at the deuterium–tritium (DT) fuel–ablator interface plays a critical role in determining the performance of inertial confinement fusion implosions. During the late stages of implosion, insufficient doping of the ablator material can result in high-energy X-ray preheat, which may trigger the development of a classical-like Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) at the fuel–ablator interface. In implosion experiments at the Shenguang 100 kJ-level laser facility, the primary source of perturbation is the roughness of the inner DT ice interface. In this study, we propose an analytical model to describe the feed-out process of the initial roughness of the inner DT ice interface. The perturbation amplitude derived from this model serves as the initial seed for the late-time RTI during the acceleration phase. Our findings confirm the presence of classical-like RTI at the fuel–ablator interface. Numerical simulations conducted using a radiation hydrodynamic code validate the proposed analytical model and demonstrate the existence of a peak mode number in both the feed-out process and the classical-like RTI. It provides an alternative bridge between the current target fabrication limitations and the unexpected implosion performance.

The authors have no conflicts to disclose.
Conflict of Interest
Author Contributions
Zheng Yan: Writing – original draft (equal). Zhu Chen: Methodology (equal). Jiwei Li: Methodology (equal). Lifeng Wang: Supervision (equal); Writing – review & editing (equal). Zhiyuan Li: Validation (equal). Chao Zhang: Validation (equal). Fengjun Ge: Supervision (equal). Junfeng Wu: Supervision (equal). Weiyan Zhang: Supervision (equal).
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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References(60)

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