Topics Bremsstrahlung, Electron spectroscopy, Time resolved imaging, X-ray spectroscopy, Computer simulation, Streak cameras, Laser plasma interactions, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution Shock ignition (SI) is a state-of-the-art high-gain scheme to direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF), in which a strong converging shock is launched at the end of the compression phase to ignite the fuel.1–4 The strong shock is triggered by a short intense laser spike (300–500 ps) with an intensity of...