High-speed gated x-ray imaging for ICF target experiments (invited)

We describe the use of gated microchannel-plate detectors as high-speed framing cameras in laser-driven inertial-confinement-fusion experiments. Using an array of pinholes to image the target, detectors capable of generating up to 16 individual frames with ∼90 ps resolution on a single laser shot are now in routine use. The detectors have been used to study the development of intentionally applied perturbations in laser-driven targets. In off-line tests new detectors have demonstrated time resolutions better than 40 ps