Fusion with laser inertial confinement

The main principles of the laser inertial confinement fusion are reviewed; first experiments were carried out at the CEA in 1977 with the PHEBUS device and an indirect attack implosion scheme which has the advantage of a better irradiation uniformity. Researches are concerning now the conversion of laser radiation into X radiation inside the cavity and the parametric instabilities, the implosion through X radiation, the symmetry of the irradiation and the hydrodynamic instabilities. The development of a mega-joule level device is under study