Shell trajectory measurements from direct-drive implosion experiments

A technique to measure the shell trajectory in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions is presented. The x-ray self emission of the target is measured with an x-ray framing camera. Optimized filtering limits the x-ray emission from the corona plasma, isolating a sharp intensity gradient very near the ablation surface. This enables one to measure the radius of the imploding shell with an accuracy better than 1 μm and to determine a 200-ps average velocity to better than 2%.