A TIM-Based Neutron Temporal Diagnostic for Cryogenic Experiments on OMEGA

156 LLE Review, Volume 92 Introduction In inertial confinement fusion1 experiments, shells filled with deuterium (D2) or a deuterium–tritium (DT) mixture are heated by either direct laser illumination or soft x-ray radiation in a laser-heated hohlraum. The target is compressed to conditions under which thermonuclear fusion occurs. The most-promising target designs consist of a layered cryogenic D2 or DT shell enclosed by a very thin shell of plastic, which is ablated very early and does not contribute significantly to the dynamics of the implosion.2,3 During the plasma confinement time, which is of the order of 100 ps, fuel atoms undergoing fusion release energetic charged particles, photons, and neutrons. The fusion reactions of interest are