Nova indirect drive Rayleigh–Taylor experiments with beryllium

The growth due to the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability of single-wavelength surface perturbations on planar foils of copper-doped beryllium [BeCu] was measured. These foils were accelerated by x-ray ablation, with a shaped drive designed to produce ∼1.5 ns of uniform acceleration. A range of wavelengths (λ=30–70 μm) was used with initial amplitudes η0/λ=0.03–0.04. Tabulated opacities from detailed atomic physics models, HOPE [J. Quant. Spectros. Radiat. Transf. 43, 381 (1990)], OPAL [Astrophys. J. 397, 717 (1992)] and super transition array (STA) [Phys. Rev. A 40, 3183 (1989)] were employed in simulations. Other ingredients which can affect modeling, such as changes in the equation of state and the radiation drive spectrum, were also examined. This calculational model agrees with the Nova single wavelength RT perturbation growth data for the BeCu. No adjustments to the modelling parameters were necessary.