This volume of the LLE Review covers the three-month period January--March 1993. The OMEGA laser facility was decommissioned during this quarter to make room for the OMEGA Upgrade laser facility. The decommissioning is described in this volume. Electron thermal transport in the corona and laser-irradiation uniformity are related issues for direct-drive laser fusion. Thermal transport can affect the laser-irradiation uniformity requirements. The status of Fokker-Planck modeling of electron transport at LLE is reviewed and is followed by a description of a new technique for achieving high laser uniformity using zero-correlation phase masks. The use of fast, optically triggered, superconducting opening switches can, in principle, reduce the peak electrical load requirements of systems like the OMEGA Upgrade. Recent research in this area is described. The last three articles discuss vacuum ultraviolet and x-ray emission from short-pulse, laser-matter interactions. The generation of a high spectral brightness, picosecond K{alpha} source is described. The subsequent articles describe the generation of high-order harmonics of a high-intensity laser system laser system in low- density, laser-atom interactions and the novel gas target used.

This volume of the LLE Review, covering the period April--June 1993, contains articles on spectral features from argon-filled target implosions on OMEGA, and on the theory of an implicit difference scheme for the Fokker-Planck equation. The advanced technology section includes reports on a novel polymer liquid-crystal wave plate and a new scheme for phase conversion of the OMEGA Upgrade beams that results in greater, smoother energy deposition on fusion targets. Finally, reports on the as-designed configuration of the OMEGA newly configured glass development laser system are summarized.