This volume of the LLE Review, covering the period January-March 1996, contains three articles related to spherical implosions and their diagnosis, one article that provides an analysis of laser-plasma interactions, and three articles on advanced technologies developed at LLE.

This volume of the LLE Review, covering the period October-December 1995, contains a description of the generation and characterization of continuous, deep-surface-relief phase plates that are more efficient and versatile than previous designs. The LLE program plan has scheduled a number of enhancements to OMEGA`s performance and uniformity, the first of which is the implementation of these new distributed phase plates. Other articles in this volume include the discussion of an x-ray diagnostic method to measure shell-fuel mixing, the theoretical analysis of ablation-front stability, a description of a major subsystem in the OMEGA control system software, a study of the population inversions in intensely pumped Nd:YLF, and a description of a new ultrafast laser system and its uses.