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This paper reports calculations of the growth of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities (1) in the ablator-pusher region such as may be caused by irregularities in an electron beam, and (2) in the pusher-fuel interface, a problem common to all inertial confinement fusion targets. For the first case, it is found that long density gradient scale lengths and scattering of the beam by the target both stabilize the shorter-wavelength instabilities, which would otherwise grow most rapidly of all. In the second case, it is found that moderately-short-wavelength instabilities may not degrade the target performance as much as has previously been supposed.

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This paper reviews recent work on the focusing of high-power relativistic electron beams in diodes and discusses concepts for pulsed fusion based on this technology. The physics of high-current relativistic electron beam focusing using plasmas in high-current diodes is studied experimentally and with computer simulation. The physics of the beam interaction with dense targets and the requirements for break-even are briefly discussed.