The Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in Ablatively Accelerated Targets with 1, 1/2 and 1/4 Micrometers Laser Light.

Abstract

The results of a series of detailed numerical simulations are presented for the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in laser ablatively accelerated targets for a fairly wide range of initial conditions. It is shown that the Rayleigh-Taylor growth rate in an ablative environment is a strong function of the laser wavelength. For perturbation wavelengths about 3 times the inflight target thickness, the ratios of the numerical growth rates to the classical growth rates are of the order of 1/1.5, 1/2.5 and 1/3.5 for 1, 1/2 and 1/4 micrometer laser light respectively. The numerical results are in good agreement with out theoretical based on the ablative convection of vorticity away from the unstable ablation front. These results provide strong evidence for the viability of high aspect ratio shells in direct drive laser fusion. Keywords: Laser ablation; Inertial confinement fusion; Hydrodynamic instabilities.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 22, 1987
Accession Number
ADA185945

Entities

People

  • Jill P. Dahlburg
  • John H. Gardner
  • Mark H. Emery

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ablation
  • Agreements
  • Aspect Ratio
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Convection
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Geometry
  • Laser Pulses
  • Long Wavelengths
  • Perturbations
  • Rayleigh Taylor Instability
  • Short Wavelengths
  • Simulations
  • Steady State
  • Thickness
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers