Noncontact coating of spherical-shell ICF targets using gas-dynamic levitation and charged liquid cluster beam

A novel gas-dynamic levitation (GDL) technique has been developed to facilitate noncontact coating of spherical ICF targets. Preliminary test has been performed on a novel coating method known as the Charged Liquid Cluster Beam (CLCB) technique, which is compatible with the levitation scheme, to assess its feasibility as an ICF target coating technique. Using the GDL technique three metal balls 450 /spl mu/m, 650 /spl mu/m, and 950 /spl mu/m in diameter were levitated very stably for several hours, with the balls rotating continuously. The CLCB coating technique utilizes the flow-limited field-injection electrostatic spraying to produce a spray of charged nanodrops of the coating material which, in turn, is directed toward the levitated ICF target. The apparatus and preliminary data demonstrating the capability of the levitation scheme and the coating technique are presented.