Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in a Layered Laser-Driven Target.

Growth rates of Rayleigh-Taylor modes, particularly those of long wavelength, are reduced at fluid interfaces in inhomogeneous laser-driven targets by the density gradients occurring naturally as a result of the acceleration. Growth rates can be reduced further by interposing layers of intermediate density at unstable interfaces between layers of high and low density, and by fabricating target layers with favorable density gradients between discontinuities. An approximate closed form expression for the growth rate of fluid instabilities in a multi-layered laser-driven target is presented. Author