Effect of shock heating on the stability of laser-driven targets - art. no. 145003

The shock heating of a laser-driven, direct-drive target can determine its stability by affecting Rayleigh-Taylor growth rates through target decompre ssion and ablative stabilization. Measurements indicate that pulses that ri se rapidly to 10(14) W/cm(2) produce shock-induced temperatures of similar to 25 eV, whereas more slowly rising pulses show less heating. Analysis of the observed target behavior produced by these two pulses demonstrates that shock heating improves hydrodynamic stability because ablative stabilizati on increases when the targets are preheated by shocks.