Popular target designs are reviewed. Possible methods of fusion target fabrication are discussed and the equipment and samples are demonstrated. The properties of the uniform and structured (cluster) materials are considered, showing the advantage of cluster material for energy conversion into soft X rays. The target materials with high content of hydrogen isotopes (BeD2, LiBeD3, or ND3BD3) prove to be more effective for high-power drivers in comparison with beryllium or polyimide.

Two shells with the diameter of 0.8–0.9 mm and a wall thickness of ≅1 μm were produced at the Lebedev Physics Institute for the experiments conducted at the ISKRA-5 facility. The results of two experiments with the aforementioned shells conducted at the ISKRA-5 facility with the use of an indirect-drive set up. In one of the experiments, the diameter of the golden hohlraum was D = 2 mm while in the other it was D = 4 mm. In these experiments it was observed to be ≅4 times the difference of the average laser intensity on the hohlraum surface. The results of computational analysis of the experiments are also presented here.