Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2009
1-D computer simulations have been performed to study the influence of X-rays preheating on the compression of spherical laser-produced plasmas. The targets are glass microballoons filled with Neon at the initial pressure 10 bars. It is assumed that the only significant absorption process in the Neon is by inverse bremsstrahlung absorption. The results indicate that the radiative preheating energy has a nonnegligible effect on the compression, and a study of the Lawson criterion shows that this effect is more important for high-Z target shell materials and for thicker shells.