title: In-flight measurements of capsule shell adiabats in laser-driven implosions.
abstract: We present the first x-ray Thomson scattering measurements of temperature and density from spherically imploding matter. The shape of the Compton downscattered spectrum provides a first-principles measurement of the electron velocity distribution function, dependent on T(e) and the Fermi temperature T(F)∼n(e)(2/3). In-flight compressions of Be and CH targets reach 6-13 times solid density, with T(e)/T(F)∼0.4-0.7 and Γ(ii)∼5, resulting in minimum adiabats of ∼1.6-2. These measurements are consistent with low-entropy implosions and predictions by radiation-hydrodynamic modeling.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kritcher
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Döppner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fortmann
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: O L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Landen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Glenzer