Development of polystyrene microshells doped with ultrafine metal particles as radiation-preheated ICF targets using optimized multiple emulsion technique

Abstract

Growth rates of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, in direct drive inertial confinement fusion targets, can be reduced using a radiation-preheated polymer ablator. Polystyrene microshells doped with ultrafine metal particles (200-300 Å) are fabricated using the multiple emulsion technique, which can serve as the outer layer for radiation-preheated target. Preliminary results show that microshells of approximately 200-1500 µm can be produced with various wall thicknesses. Further optimization of the process is in progress to produce very thin (wall thickness ∼1 µm) microshells with ultrasmooth surface finish (∼15 nm).