Fuel-shell mix and yield degradation in kinetic shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions

Fuel-shell mix in kinetic plasma conditions is probed using nuclear and x-ray self-emission in shock-driven, (DHe)-He-3-gas-filled inertial confinement fusion implosions. As initial gas fill density decreases, measured nuclear yields and ion temperatures are lower than expected as compared to radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. Spatially and temporally resolved x-ray emissions indicate significant mixing at the fuel-shell interface in implosions with low initial gas fill density. This observed fuel-shell mix introduces a substantial amount of shell ions into the center of the implosion prior to and during shock flash and is the key mechanism needed in the kinetic-ion simulations to match experimental nuclear yields. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.