Shock Release Physics at CH-DT Interface by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Shock release commonly occurs in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and High Energy Density (HED) experiments, but it is challenging to model with hydrodynamic simulations. One important aspect of these processes is species separation, where lighter elements stream ahead of heavier ones. This phenomenon has been observed in CH polystyrene under strong shocks and during release, as revealed by large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (Zhang and Hu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 105001 (2020)). These predictions were further shown to be consistent with experiments (Zhang et al., Phys. Rev. Research 4, 013126 (2022)). However, the significance of this physics in real multi-layer target systems and its impact on target performance in experiments remains unclear. In this talk, I will present extended MD simulations of CH-DT ice interfaces under single and double shocks and show results of shock release into a vacuum or DT gas. We will discuss the implications of these results when scaled to realistically sized targets, and how they compare with hydrodynamic simulations and newly conducted/planned experiments.