Carbon Grain Structure Impacts on Fuel-Ablator Mixing

High density carbon (HDC) ablators used in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions have a microscale or nanoscale grain structure. This grain structure, which has an associated density inhomogeneity, is known to perturb shocks passing through the HDC. Here we use high-resolution simulations to study mixing processes associated with these perturbations in ICF implosions at the interface between an HDC ablator and a deuterium-tritium fuel layer. In particular, we find interaction between grain-seeded perturbations and thermal-conduction-driven density gradients near the interface. Further, we show how different strategies for de-resolving the grain structure to reduce computational cost influence the magnitude of post-shock perturbations and the degree of mixing.