X-ray driven implosions in laser heated hohlraums

The processes involved in heating a hohlraum with high power lasers are dealt with in another chapter in this volume. Here we describe the hohlraum X-ray radiation field conditions directly relevant to efficient implosion drive. After characterising the drive conditions we then deal with the nature of the implosion itself, concentrating on measurements and diagnostics. Although the level of this chapter is introductory, we will attempt to relate the descriptions to current research by using examples with parameter values and experimental configurations typically encountered in ongoing research or those projected for ignition-scale work. (author)