Self-generated magnetic field in three-dimensional ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability

Abstract: The self-generated magnetic field in three-dimensional (3D) single-mode ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities (ARTI) relevant to the acceleration phase of a direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosion is investigated. It is found that stronger magnetic fields up to a few thousands of T can be generated by 3D ARTI than by its two-dimensional (2D) counterpart. The Nernst effects significantly alter the magnetic fields convection and amplify the magnetic fields. The scaling law for the magnetic flux obtained in the 2D simulations performs reasonably well in the 3D cases. While the magnetic field significantly accelerates the bubble growth in the short-wavelength 2D modes through modifying the heat fluxes, the magnetic field mostly accelerates the spike growth but has little influence on the bubble growth in 3D ARTI.