Ionization balance in inertial confinement fusion hohlraums

Phys Rev Lett. 2001 Jul 23;87(4):045002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.045002. Epub 2001 Jul 5.

Abstract

We present the first x-ray spectroscopic measurements of the ionization balance in inertial confinement fusion hohlraums supported by 4omega Thomson scattering diagnostics. The experimental data show agreement with non-LTE radiation-hydrodynamic calculations of the averaged Au charge state and electron temperatures. These findings are consistent with the successful integrated modeling of the hohlraum radiation fields. Comparisons with detailed synthetic spectra calculations show that the experimental ionization distribution is slightly shifted indicating nonsteady state kinetics.