Convergent ablator performance measurements

The velocity and remaining ablator mass of an imploding capsule are critical metrics for assessing the progress toward ignition of an inertially confined fusion experiment. These and other convergent ablator performance parameters have been measured using a single streaked x-ray radiograph. Traditional Abel inversion of such a radiograph is ill-posed since backlighter intensity profiles and x-ray attenuation by the ablated plasma are unknown. To address this we have developed a regularization technique which allows the ablator density profile ρ(r) and effective backlighter profile I0(y) at each time step to be uniquely determined subject to the constraints that ρ(r) is localized in radius space and I0(y) is delocalized in object space. Moments of ρ(r) then provide the time-resolved areal density, mass, and average radius (and thus velocity) of the remaining ablator material. These results are combined in the spherical rocket model to determine the ablation pressure and mass ablation rate during the implos...