Abstract

One primary gain from using blue light for directly driven inertial fusion is the enhanced coupling of the laser light to the core of the target. This enhanced coupling should result in an enhanced hydrodynamic efficiency, i.e., the portion of the laser energy converted into kinetic energy of the imploding shell. In the case of flat foil targets the corresponding target section is the unablated mass of the foil which is accelerated in the direction of laser propagation. Momentum is imparted to the target bulk through the ablation process, which in turn is dependent on the transport of thermal energy from the absorption region to the ablation surface.

© 1983 Optical Society of America