Advances in Electroplating Gradients and Thick Metallic Coatings on Microspherical Targets for Inertial Confinement Fusion

Electroplating remains an attractive deposition approach for fabricating metal microspherical targets for inertial confinement fusion because of its relatively fast deposition rates and ability to produce full-density small grain coatings. Here, we discuss recent advances that allow for coating thick (>60 µm) leak-free gold capsules and capsules with gradients of gold and silver. We present a new apparatus used for electroplating hollow microspherical (typically 2-mm diameter) mandrels and discuss the resulting surface roughness and sphericity obtained using this plating method.