This volume of the LLE Review, covering the period October-December 1996, includes a review of 2-D SSD as implemented on the OMEGA laser system. A summary of the detailed mathematical formalism is shown, and the predicted level of uniformity achievable on OMEGA is given. The first experimental results on uniformity using narrow-band 2-D SSD are compared to theoretical calculations. Excellent agreement between experiment and theory is found, which gives confidence that broadband 2-D SSD with polarization wedges should achieve an rms nonuniformity in the 1%-2% level necessary for cryogenic implosion experiments.

This volume of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) Review, covering the period April-June 1999, features a theoretical analysis of direct-drive target performance on National Ignition Facility (NIF). In this article R. P. J. Town, J. A. Delettrez, R. Epstein, V. N. Goncharov, R. L. McCrory, P. W. McKenty, R. W. Short, and S. Skupsky detail ignition target designs developed at LLE specifically to achieve successful direct-drive ignition on the NIF facility. A baseline ''all-DT'' target design is described along with a two shock compression analysis, which includes discussion of the parameters leading to variability in shock timing. The modeling and analysis presented flow down to specification requirements for the laser and target parameters to ignite this baseline target design with the NIF laser.

This progress report contains discussion on the following topics: A high-bandwidth electrical-waveform generator based on aperture-coupled striplines for OMEGA pulse-shaping applications; sweep deflection circuit development using computer-aided circuit design for the OMEGA multichannel streak camera; D-{sup 3}He protons as a diagnostic for target {rho}R; growth rates of the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability in inertial confinement fusion; three-dimensional analysis of the power transfer between crossed laser beams; characterization of freestanding polymer films for application in 351-nm, high-peak-power laser systems; subsurface damage in microgrinding optical glasses; bound-abrasive polishers for optical glass; and color gamut of cholesteric liquid crystal films and flakes by standard colorimetry.