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The optical properties of neodymium-doped crystalline and glass laser materials have been studied in an attempt to further the development of laser materials (emitting at 1.06 micro) for specific applications. The 1.06-micro fluorescence lifetimes and relative fluorescence conversion efficiencies for the more promising materials such as YAG:Nd and glass:Nd have been measured over the temperature range 300-500 K. Also determined were the effects of sensitization of YAG:Nd by Cr(3+) (the enhancement of 1.06-micro, fluorescence and the Cr(3+) ? Nd(3+) energy transfer times). Further absorption spectra and fluorescence lifetimes have been determined for a large group of crystalline and glass laser media under room temperature conditions. The study of these optical properties and their thermal dependences in this temperature region provide information that is useful in solving laser device problems such as optimization of operating temperature and of pump characteristics. Presented in this paper are the results obtained from the above experimental study of the optical properties together with a collection of data from the literature of optical, thermal, and physical properties of these laser materials.

As is true for current-day commercial power plants, a reliable and economic fuel supply is essential for the viability of future Inertial Fusion Energy ͑IFE͒ ͓Energy From Inertial Fusion, edited by W. J. Hogan ͑International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1995͔͒ power plants. While IFE power plants will utilize deuterium-tritium ͑DT͒ bred in-house as the fusion fuel, the "target" is the vehicle by which the fuel is delivered to the reaction chamber. Thus the cost of the target becomes a critical issue in regard to fuel cost. Typically six targets per second, or about 500 000/ day are required for a nominal 1000 MW͑e͒ power plant. The electricity value within a typical target is about $3, allocating 10% for fuel cost gives only 30 cents per target as-delivered to the chamber center. Complicating this economic goal, the target supply has many significant technical challengesfabricating the precision fuel-containing capsule, filling it with DT, cooling it to cryogenic temperatures, layering the DT into a uniform layer, characterizing the finished product, accelerating it to high velocity for injection into the chamber, and tracking the target to steer the driver beams to meet it with micron-precision at the chamber center.