Direct-illumination spherical-target experiments

A set of spherical target experiments was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of three techniques for achieving higher convergence implosions. They are (1) cryogenically frozen fuel layers, (2) submicron wavelength laser light, and (3) temporally tailored pulse shapes. A second set of experiments provides information about energy transport by thermal and suprathermal electrons and uses multilayered targets as an integral component of the diagnostics. These results, in conjunction with existing laser-target coupling data, provide a more comprehensive test of our understanding of laser plasma interaction, energy transport, and hydrodynamic response of small scale spherical laser fusion experiments