Investigations of Multi-Ion and Kinetic Physics in Inertial Confinement Implosions with Mid-Z observer elements at OMEGA*

The impacts of multi-ion and kinetic effects are not well-captured in models of inertial confinement implosions, leading to a degradation of observed yields as compared to fluid simulations. A series of experiments at OMEGA included mid-Z nitrogen gas fills in addition to D³He to accentuate the impact of multi-ion and kinetic effects for a range of capsule fill densities. The resulting nuclear and x-ray emission histories indicate the impact of the mid-Z elements on initial energy transfer to the ion species and subsequently to the electron population. Burn-averaged temperature shows a significant increase in the mid-Z gas fill case as compared to comparable capsule implosions with D³He fills only. The experimental data are compared to hydrodynamic simulations to understand the extent of the kinetic and muti-ion fluid effects coming into play during the shock-convergence and compression phases of the implosions.