Benchmarking solid-to-plasma transition modeling for inertial confinement fusion laser-imprint with a pump-probe experiment

Abstract

For laser direct-drive (LDD) fusion implosions, intense laser beams are used to directly illuminate the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsule. The laser beams' intensity nonuniformity (due to speckles) on the target can impose perturbation seeds which are subsequently amplified by Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth, thereby leading to degradation of ICF implosion performance. To devise methods to mitigate this issue, adequate understanding of the underlying so-called laser-imprinting process is required. Here, we report measurements and modeling of the initial plasma formation process which has been shown to affect the laser imprint. Specifically, we measured the transient transmission of a femtosecond probe pulse through a polystyrene target for different 100-picosecond pump pulse intensities pertaining to ICF conditions. The experimental data are used to benchmark a microphysics model of initial plasma formation that overall describes the observed dynamics, thus providing a validated solid-to-plasma modeling for laser-imprinting purposes in radiation-hydrodynamic codes to accurately simulate and design LDD targets.