Experimental Results from DT Layered Alternate Tent Support Implosions on the NIF

Engineering features on the capsule remain of great concern for ICF implosions on the NIF. Other than the fill tube, the tent remains as the engineering feature with the greatest potential for seeding Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities. Simulations indicate that the current 3-shock high foot CH ablator designs are most sensitive to perturbations produced by the tent. Experiments additionally have shown that the tent is causing a significant shell perturbation. Recently, a cryogenic layered DT implosion experiment was performed in which only the capsule support was changed so that the capsule tent support contact area has been minimized. Results from this experiment and supporting experiments will be presented. This experiment is the first CH experiment to demonstrate total neutron yield at or exceeding 1x10¹⁶ despite numerous attempts with the same exact laser pulse and target, but with the standard tent capsule support. When compared with prior alternate tent implosion experiments, this experiment may also indicate that the benefit on the alternate tent support is significantly greater when using a thinner ablator.