Study of laser preheat in magnetic liner inertial fusion using the AMR code FLASH

Magnetic Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) on the Z Pulsed Power Accelerator involves three processes: magnetization, preheat, and compression [S.A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas \textbf{17}, 056303 (2010)]. An issue with this scheme is the development of instabilities during laser preheat, where the Z-Beamlet laser system may not deposit energy into deuterium fuel uniformly. This study explores potential mixing between liner and fuel, and inner imprinting of seeds on a beryllium liner that may generate late instability growth and shear, using the Eulerian AMR code FLASH. We further investigate potential instability implications of an additional layer of deuterium-tritium ice, as has been proposed [S.A. Slutz and R.A. Vesey, PRL \textbf{108} 025003 (2012)] and assess the sensitivity of MagLIF implosions to axial variations in fuel preheat; meanwhile testing the expediency of FLASH for these scenarios. FLASH was developed in part by the DOE NNSA ASC and DOE Office of Science ASCR-supported Flash Center at the University of Chicago.