Shock impedance matching experiments in foam-solid targets and implications for "foam buffered ICF"

We studied the influence of foams on laser produced shocks. Experiments were performed at LULI using a Nd laser converted to second harmonic, and at MPQ (Max Planck Institut für Quantenoptik) using the iodine Asterix laser converted to third harmonic. In both cases, sub-ns lasers with pulse energies of several tens of joules were focused on large focal spots (hundreds of microns) to reduce 2D effects. The laser beams were optically smoothed with phase zone plates (PZP) and directly focused on layered targets made of a foam layer on the laser side and a stepped Al layer on the other side. A visible streak camera was used to detect shock breakthrough at the base and at the step of the Al target, allowing shock velocity to be determined. Using the well known SESAME Al equation of state, we determined shock pressure. A stronger pressure increase was measured when foam was present, compared to what was obtained by focusing the laser beam directly on the Al target. This was due to the impedance mismatch effect at the Al-foam interface

Design, simulation and application of phase plates

In this paper we analyze the use of phase plates to obtain homogeneous laser intensity profiles. We studied the dependence of intensity distribution on phase plates characteristics, we obtained analytical solution for the intensity profile in the focal plane for plane waves and developed a numerical simulator to calculate the intensity distribution with a generic initial beam and at any propagation plane. We defined criteria to evaluate the quality of profiles produced by different phase plates. Finally we compared experimental results obtained at the Max-Planck Institut für Quantenoptik of Garching with our numerical simulations

Production of high quality shocks for equation of state experiments

In this paper we describe the quality requirements that a shock wave must fulfil to make equation of state (EOS) measurements possible: planarity, no-preheating and stationarity of the shock. Experimental measurements have been performed at the Max Planck Institut für Quantenoptik (Garching). We also present simple analytical models that allow to verify shock stationarity and absence of preheating