International audienc

The capacity to launch a strong shock wave in a compressed target in the presence of large preplasma has been investigated experimentally and numerically in a planar geometry. The experiment was performed on the LULI 2000 laser facility using one laser beam to compress the target and a second to launch the strong shock simulating the intensity spike in the shock ignition scheme. Thanks to a large set of diagnostics, it has been possible to compare accurately experimental results with 2D numerical simulations. A good agreement has been observed even if a more detailed study of the laser-plasma interaction for the spike is necessary in order to confirm that this scheme is a possible alternative for inertial confinement fusion.

We present equation of state points for iron, in the pressure range 10 -45 Mbar, the first obtained with laser-driven shock waves. The experiment has been performed with the high energy laser Phebus, optically smoothed with Kinoform phase plates. Our results double the set of existing experimental data at very high pressures showing good agreement with the predictions of the quotidian equation of state model and with previous results.