Laser-driven implosion of spherical shells

Abstract

The general characteristics of the implosion of glass shells are described and analytic estimates given. The problems of implosion symmetry are enumerated. The results of the analyses are correlated with computer simulation of the implosions. The diagnosis of pellet behaviour using X-ray pinhole imaging is described and the characteristics of the implosion signature are given. Comparison with experiment shows that the implosions obtained closely agree with the theoretical and computational predictions.