Observation of Spatial Variations in Ion Temperature in ICF Implosions

Fuel ion temperature is a key driver (and indicator) of performance in inertial confinement fusion implosions. Simulations on work suggest that local temperature variations due to cold material injected by hydrodynamic mix and jets can persist long enough to affect burn. However, typical ion temperature measurements are spatially-integrated; direct, spatially-resolved ion temperature measurement is extremely difficult due to signal level and detector hardware challenges. We present the development and results of the first such measurement, which shows ion temperature variations consistent with xRAGE predictions in ICF implosions at the Omega laser.