Study of electron and proton isochoric heating for fast ignition

Isochoric heating by electrons has been measured in the two limiting cases of small area thin foils with dominant refluxing and cone-long-wire geometry with negligible refluxing in the wire. Imaging of Cu Kα fluorescence, crystal x-ray spectroscopy of Cu K shell emission, and XUV imaging at68eV and 256 eV are discussed. Laser power on target was typically 0.5 PW in 0.7 ps. Heating by focused proton beams generated at the concave inside surface of a hemi-shell and from a sub hemi-shell inside a 30° cone has been studied with the same diagnostic methods plus imaging of proton induced Kα. Conversion efficiency to protons has been measured and modeled. Conclusions from the experiments, links to theoretical understanding and relevance to fast ignition are outlined.