Indirect-Drive ICF

Indirect-drive ICF delivers the energy of a laser (or ion beam) not directly to the fuel capsule, but rather to an enclosure, or hohlraum, in which it is thermalized.  This thermal radiation is typically characterized by temperatures of 2 to 3 million K, so it is primarily X-rays.

Images of a gold hohlraum used at the NOVA laser at Livermore (far left).  The picture on the right was taken in X-rays and shows the laser hotspots on the interior of the hohlraum radiating through the hohlraum walls.