A platform for thin-layer Richtmyer-Meshkov at OMEGA and the NIF

Imperfections at the interface between the ablator and fuel in an ICF capsule can give rise the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI). The effects of multiple shocks on this impulse-driven instability has been well studied in traditional, low energy density (LED) regimes, but work is limited in the high energy density (HED) regime. Instability and turbulent characteristics are difficult to diagnose in an ICF capsule, with its three dimensional and converging geometry. This paper highlights the platform development of a new planar HED experiment at the OMEGA and NIF laser facilities designed specifically to study the feedthrough of the RMI in a thin layer. Using a simple shock and then re-shock setup, Multi-shock (Mshock) has successfully redesigned the previous Reshock experiment to produce a well-defined mixing layer post-shock and reshock. Localized doping profiles have been developed to improve feature contrast, and reduce edge effects. A series of initial conditions have been precision machined and characterized for comparison, though the effects of preheat are distorting these profiles. First results quantifying the growth via the mixing layer width have been made with an 1D Eulerian code and an 1D RANS mix-model.