Mitigating the Joint Feature in Double Shell Implosion Simulations

Double shell capsules are an attractive alternative in inertial confinement fusion experiments due to their potential for achieving a low-convergence, robust burn 1 . However, symmetry degradation and accompanying reduced fuel confinement plagues these systems due to the joint between the two hemispheres of the outer shell. The gap widens during irradiation and this perturbation grows and imprints onto the inner shell during the collision. xRAGE Eulerian radiation-hydrodynamic simulations predict significant reductions in deuterium–tritium fusion yields compared to joint-less simulations when the depth of the outer joint is increased. We demonstrate that the technique of plating the insides of the outer gap with gold can mitigate the impact of this feature. Gold-plating in quantities comparable to or exceeding the missing outer shell mass shows promise toward restoring both implosion symmetry and yield closer to the joint-less levels 2 . The shape and symmetry retention in the outer and inner shells is captured in high-energy x-ray synthetic radiographs.