Capsule Implosion Symmetry in OMEGA Tetrahedral Hohlraums

The 3-D time-dependent capsule implosion symmetry has been calculated for spherical hohlraums with four laser entrance holes. The code BUTTERCUP calculates the locations of beam spots on the hohlraum wall and includes a model for the absorption and x-ray conversion of the laser energy. The gold wall is heated by 1-D radiation diffusion, and radiation transport is carried out with a 3-D view-factor algorithm. A simple hydrodynamic calculation of the imploding capsule gives the resulting 3-D time-dependent drive symmetry. The predicted radiation uniformity incident on the capsule is very good ( ~1% rms) throughout the laser pulse. Experimental images of the capsule show round implosions with convergence ratios of 10 for standard capsules,(T. J. Murphy, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 42), 2008 (1997). in agreement with predictions. Radiation temperatures and capsule trajectories are calculated and show good agreement with experiment. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC03-92SF19460.