Recent experiments at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to study the laser driven compression of CH shell targets and the effects of increasing aspect ratio

Recent experiments to study the laser driven compression of CH shell targets and the effects of increasing aspect ratio using x-ray shadowgraphy techniques are described. This work has been carried out at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's Central Laser Facility with 12 beam, 0.53 μm, 1.0 ns irradiation. X-ray shadowgraphy techniques have been used with a frame time of approx. 100 ps and spatial resolution of 5 to 10 μm to obtain density profiles for the compressed targets. A systematic study of 150-200 μm targets with aspect ratios from approx. 7 to approx. 20 has been performed. The x-ray shadowgraphy techniques used are described, results in the form of x-radiographs presented and a discussion of preliminary results given. (author)