Measurement of Linear Magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Growth in Solid Liners

The magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instability is ubiquitous to pinch plasmas compressed by magnetic pressure, and is an important factor in determining whether a cylindrical liner can reach the axis in a relatively intact form. While there are many RT characterization experiments, there are few well-characterized MRT experiments and none for fast ($\sim$100 ns) z-pinch implosions in which the magnetic pressure quickly dominates over material strength. We present data from an initial series of MRT growth experiments on the 20 MA Z-machine that used solid Al liners with outer radii of 3.16 mm and aspect ratios (radius/thickness) of 10. The MRT instability was seeded with sinusoidal perturbations of 200 and 400 $\mu$m and peak-to-valley amplitudes of 5 and 10 $\mu$m, respectively. Radiographs showing the evolution of the MRT instability are compared with codes being used to design magnetized liner inertial fusion loads [see S.A. Slutz, ``Magnetized liner inertial fusion,'' this conference.]