Design of experiments to observe radiation stabilized Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth at an embedded decelerating interface

Using a hohlraum produced thermal x-ray drive at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to create pressure by material ablation, a shock exceeding 200 Mbar can be driven through a planar, solid-density target and into a lower-density foam material. The shock driven through the foam is strongly radiative, and this radiation significantly alters the dynamics of the system, including those of the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) fluid instability at the interface between the two materials. We discuss here the design of experiments that can produce such radiative conditions. One will be able to compare the observed growth rates with an extensive body of hydrodynamic experiments performed previously. In this paper, we describe a set of 1D simulations performed to understand the mechanisms of stabilization in a strongly radiative Rayleigh-Taylor unstable system. Simulation results are used to calculate modified analytic RT growth rates which have been proposed in the literature. Calculations predict reduced RT spike growth as a result of increases in density gradient scale length and mass ablation from the unstable interface. This work has direct applicability to the observable features in upcoming NIF experiments. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3657428]