An analytic model for laser-driven ablative implosion of spherical shell targets

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Abstract
A simple analytic model is developed to describe the plasma parameters produced at peak compression when gas-filled spherical shell targets are imploded by the ablation pressure produced by irradiation with constant laser power. The range of validity of the model is discussed and, in particular, the constraints due to preheating by hot electrons. Comparison with numerical simulation verifies the accuracy of the model. The implications of the scaling of compressed plasma parameters with target and laser parameters are discussed.