Design of radiative shocktube experiments with X-ray Thomson scattering measurements on the National Ignition Facility

Previous experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) studied the effect of high-energy fluxes from radiation and electron heat conduction on shock-driven hydrodynamic instability perturbation growth. Experimental results exhibited reduced growth in the high-energy flux case compared to experiments with negligible energy fluxes [1]. It is hypothesized this reduced growth is due to ablative stabilization from radiative and thermal conduction energy fluxes in the hot, shocked foam. We plan to implement X-Ray Thomson Scattering (XRTS) in the radiative shock tube platform to measure electron temperatures in the shocked foam. We present simulations in CRASH, an Eulerian radiation hydrodynamics code, which predict shock speeds, electron temperatures, and effective ionizations in SiO2 and carbon foams. In addition, we assess plasma parameters in the measurement region and give initial estimations of the XRTS spectra. Shot days for this experiment are scheduled on the NIF in 2019 and 2020.[1] C.C. Kuranz, H.-S. Park et. al, Nat. Commun. 9, 1564 (2008)