Measurement of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in targets driven by optically smoothed laser beams

Growth rates of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability were measured in targets with imposed sinusoidal modulations irradiated by optically smoothed 0.53-{μ}m laser beams. A hybrid optical smoothing technique utilizing induced-spatial-incoherence and random-phase-plate technology was used for the first time. The wave-number dependence and the nonlinear behavior of Rayleigh-Taylor growth were investigated by using targets with a range of modulation periodicities and depths. The results are compared to 2D hydrodynamic-code simulations.