Analysis of Simulation Predictivity of Hohlraum Conditions and Implosion Performance in the Two-Shock Layered Experiments on the NIF*

We analyze recent layered implosion experiments using the two-shock laser pulse platform[1] wherein the capsule and hohlraum linear dimensions and laser energy have been scaled up from the original experiments to push the implosion into the self-heating regime.  Preliminary results indicate that these scaled-up implosions were not as spherically symmetric as the layered implosion at the original two-shock dimensions[2] due to a P₂ swing.  This series of shots, along with a series of two-shock experiments that deliberately alter P₂ symmetry, offers a dataset unprecedented in its simplicity and completeness.  Our analysis attempts to draw conclusions about the fidelity and predictivity of our radiation-hydro design codes in experiments at different scales.

 

[1] S.F. Khan et al. Phys. Plasmas 23, 042708 (2016)

[2] S.A. Maclaren et al. Phys. Plasmas 25 056311 (2018)