title: Suppression of laser nonuniformity imprinting using a thin high-z coating.
abstract: Imprinting of laser nonuniformity is a limiting factor in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments, particularly when available laser smoothing is limited. A thin (∼400  Å) high-Z metal coating is found to substantially suppress laser imprint for planar targets driven by pulse shapes and intensities relevant to implosions on the National Ignition Facility while retaining low adiabat target acceleration. A hybrid of indirect and direct drive, this configuration results in initial ablation by x rays from the heated high-Z layer, creating a large standoff for perturbation smoothing.
authors.affiliation: Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375, USA.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karasik
authors.affiliation: Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.affiliation: Leidos, Inc., 11951 Freedom Drive Reston, VA 20190, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aglitskiy
authors.affiliation: RSI, 4325-B Forbes Boulevard, Lanham, Maryland 20706, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Obenschain