Liquid Copper Rayleigh-Taylor Experiments on Omega EP*

Laser driven Rayleigh-Taylor experiments which utilize a releasing reservoir as a driver have been used for many years to infer the strength of solid materials, such as Ta and Pb, at multi-megabar pressures.  The assumption made in the inference of strength for this platform is that the deviation of the Rayleigh-Taylor growth from the liquid solution is the measure of the strength of the material.  We have designed and begun to execute an experimental campaign at the Omega EP laser facility to evaluate the growth of liquid, high density material (in this case Cu) at an unstable Rayleigh-Tayler interface. The designed loading path first shock melts the copper, then accelerates it to measure the growth of pre-imposed ripples. The goal is to demonstrate that the liquid RT growth at multi-megabar pressures can be accurately simulated. Design simulations of the experiment will be shown as well as some preliminary results from the measurements.