Preheating of a target by laser radiation through plasma and polymer aerogel

Processing of X-ray and optical streak-camera images after brightness amplification 5 proves unambiguously the existence of a preheating of the foil in two-layer targets (polymer aerogel plus Al foil). We observed this effect earlier at the accuracy limit of the experiment. Preheating may be explained by the initial transmission of laser radiation by an inhomogeneous plasma and aerogel remnants. The fraction of laser energy that passed through a microheterogeneous plasma to the foil or shell is small in comparison with the total energy in the pulse, but it comes to the target (foil or shell) at the initial period of the laser pulse and can be significantly affected by the dynamics of plasma and the efficiency of spherical cryogenic thermonuclear targets.