Laser plasma interaction experiments at CEL-V

Summary form only given. The laser-plasma interaction program developed at CEL-V is mainly devoted to a systematic investigation of the physics of X-ray-driven implosion. Experiments are performed using the two-beam laser facility PHEBUS (6 to 7 kJ, 1.3 ns, 0.35 /spl mu/m). In a ablative regime a compressed maximum density of 100 times the liquid density has been obtained; this value is deduced from pusher debris activation measurements. The research emphasis laser absorption and X-ray conversion efficiency, irradiation uniformity, radiative transfer, and preheat and hydrodynamic instabilities. Ablation by soft X rays of low-Z material, such as that used in the capsule, is investigated as well as X-ray reemission and induced hydrodynamics. The laser energy required to reach ignition has been deduced from numerical simulations and analytical models, taking into account hohlraum physics, capsule implosion, hot spot formation, and burn propagation.