Three-dimensional simulations of the implosion of inertial confinement fusion targets.

The viability of inertial confinement fusion depends crucially on implosion symmetry. A spherical three-dimensional hydrocode called plato has been developed to model the growth in asymmetries during an implosion. Results are presented in the deceleration phase which show indistinguishable linear growth rates, but greater nonlinear growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability than is found in two-dimensional cylindrical simulations. The three-dimensional enhancement of the nonlinear growth is much smaller than that found by Sakagami and Nishihara.