With a view to the goal of net energy production from a DT microexplosion, two ideas (methods) are studied through which (separately or in combination) energy may be ''concentrated'' into a small volume and short period of time--the so-called space-time energy densification or compression. The advantages and disadvantages of lasers and relativistic electron-beam (E-beam) machines as the sources of such energy are studied and the amplification of laser pulses as a key factor in energy compression is discussed. The pulse length of present relativistic E-beam machines is the most serious limitation of this pulsed-power source. The first energy-compression idea discussed is the reasonably efficient production of short-duration, high-current relativistic electron pulses by the self interruption and restrike of a current in a plasma pinch due to the rapid onset of strong turbulence. A 1-MJ plasma focus based on this method is nearing completion at this Laboratory. The second energy- compression idea is based on laser-pulse production through the parametric amplification of a self-similar or solitary wave pulse, for which analogs can be found in other wave processes. Specifically, the second energy-compression idea is a proposal for parametric amplification of a solitary, transverse magnetic pulse in a coaxial cavity with a …