Effect of laser wavelength on growth of ablative Rayleigh–Taylor instability in inertial confinement fusion

The effect of drive laser wavelength on the growth of ablative Rayleigh–Taylor instability (ARTI) in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is studied with two-dimensional numerical simulations. The results show that in the plasma acceleration phase, shorter wavelengths lead to more efficient coupling between the laser and the kinetic energy of the implosion fluid. Under the condition that the laser energy coupled to the implosion fluid is constant, the ARTI growth rate decreases as the laser wavelength moves toward the extreme ultraviolet band, reaching its minimum value near λ = 65 nm, and when the laser wavelength continuously moves toward the X-ray band, the ARTI growth rate increases rapidly. It is found that the results deviate from the theoretical ARTI growth rate. As the laser intensity benchmark increases, the position of the minimum ARTI growth rate shifts toward shorter wavelengths. As the initial sinusoidal perturbation wavenumber decreases, the position of the minimum ARTI growth rate shifts toward longer wavelengths. We believe that the conclusions drawn from the present simulations and analysis will help provide a better understanding of the ICF process and improve the theory of ARTI growth.