Quantitative characterization of inertial confinement fusion capsules using phase contrast enhanced x-ray imaging

Current designs for inertial confinement fusion capsules for the National Ignition Facility consist of a solid deuterium–tritium (D–T) fuel layer inside of a copper doped beryllium, Be(Cu), shell. Phase contrast enhanced x-ray imaging is shown to render the D–T layer visible inside the Be(Cu) shell. Phase contrast imaging is experimentally demonstrated for several surrogate capsules and validates computational models. Polyimide and low density divinyl benzene foam shells were imaged at the Advanced Photon Source synchrotron. The surrogates demonstrate that phase contrast enhanced imaging provides a method to characterize surfaces when absorption imaging cannot be used. Our computational models demonstrate that a rough surface can be accurately characterized using phase contrast enhanced x-ray images.