Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications 2005
J.-C. Gauthier, et al.
J. Phys. IV France 133 (2006) 243-246
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:2006133049

Laser-plasma interactions in high-energy density plasmas

C.G. Constantin¹, H.A. Baldis^{1, 2}, M.B. Schneider², D.E. Hinkel², A.B. Langdon², W. Seka³, R. Bahr³ and S. Depierreux<sup>4

1</sup>  University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
²  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
³  Laboratory for Laser Energetics, 250 East River Road, Rochester, NY 14623-1299, USA
⁴  Departement de Conception et de Realisation des Experimentations, CEA-DIF, France

Abstract
Laser-plasma interactions (LPI) have been studied experimentally in high-temperature, high-energy density plasmas. The studies have been performed using the Omega laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), Rochester, NY. Up to 10 TW of power was incident upon reduced-scale hohlraums, distributed in three laser beam cones. The hot hohlraums fill quickly with plasma. Late in the laser pulse, most of the laser energy is deposited at the laser entrance hole, where most of the LPI takes place. Due to the high electron temperature, the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) spectrum extends well beyond /2, due to the Bohm-Gross shift. This high-temperature, high-energy density regime provides a unique opportunity to study LPI beyond inertial confinement fusion (ICF) conditions.

© EDP Sciences 2006