ICF in the U.S.: Facilities and diagnostics

In the last few years there has been significant progress in ICF research in laboratories in the United States and elsewhere. These advances have occurred in areas that range from demonstrating an innovative laser beam smoothing techniques important for both directly and indirectly driven ICF, to achieving a more complete understanding of capsule implosions and related physics. This progress has been possible because of the capabilities provided by the ICF laser-target facilities currently in operation and the new developments in diagnostics, particularly for measurements of the implosion process and the conditions in the compressed capsule core. Both of these topics, facilities and selected new diagnostics capabilities in the US ICF Program, are summarized in this paper. 32 refs., 19 figs., 6 tabs