Cavity Suppression of Converging Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in Cylindrical Geometry

The global goal of clean energy delivered by inertially confined nuclear fusion schemes has long been hindered by hydrodynamic instabilities seeded during shock compression. Recent research has explored methods of suppressing the growth of such instabilities as the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI), to improve energy output from fusion shots. We propose to experimentally verify a new suppression technique, which introduces low-density cavities ahead of an RM-unstable interface, in a cylindrically convergent geometry. Success will aid in future capsule designs for fusion experiments, where instabilities seeded by fill tube defects could be mitigated by employing this technique.