This program focuses on the issues of dynamics and stability of plasmas in physical situations relevant to inertial confinement fusion and the development of Z-pinch plasma x-ray radiation sources. Problems currently under investigation include (1) Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instabilities in dynamic radiating plasmas; (2) early-time perturbation growth in laser targets, laser imprint, ablative RM instability, feedout; (3) mitigation of the RT instability and design of RT-resistant laser targets and Z-pinch loads; (4) stabilizing effects of either applied magnetic fields (both axial and azimuthal, external or trapped) or density and composition tailoring; (5) power amplification in vacuum; and (6) investigation of innovative approaches to increasing yield, power, and hardness of the x-ray output from existing and proposed pulsed power facilities. The work involves design and interpretation of experiments, analytical theory, and numerical simulation.

Additional Benefits

Awardees who reside more than 50 miles from their host laboratory and remain on tenure for at least six months are eligible for paid relocation to within the vicinity of their host laboratory.

A group health insurance program is available to awardees and their qualifying dependents in the United States.