Target design for the LMJ

We recall the main features of the LMJ. By using a simple but global model we determined different shells able to give a thermonuclear yield larger th an 15 MJ; this model delimited an operating domain for the laser with a 25% margin to take into account the poorly understood phenomena. The different issues are related to the physics of the shell and to the physics of the h ohlraum: optimisation of the shell implosion; laser-plasma interaction in t he hohlraum; irradiation uniformity given by the hohlraum (2D simulations); implosion with nonuniformities; robustness against the experimental uncert ainties; hydrodynamic instabilities during implosion. (C) 2000 Academie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.