Channeling of multikilojoule high-intensity laser beams in an inhomogeneous plasma

Journal Article · Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics (Print)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.91.051101· OSTI ID:1186637

Ivancic, S. ^[1]; Haberberger, D. ^[1]; Habara, H. ^[2]; Iwawaki, T. ^[2]; Anderson, K. S. ^[1]; Craxton, R. S. ^[1]; Froula, D. H. ^[1]; Meyerhofer, D. D. ^[1]; Stoeckl, C. ^[1]; Tanaka, K. A. ^[2]; Theobald, W. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY (United States)
2. Osaka Univ., Suita (Japan)

Channeling experiments were performed that demonstrate the transport of high-intensity (>10¹⁸ W/cm²), multikilojoule laser light through a millimeter-sized, inhomogeneous (~300-μm density scale length) laser produced plasma up to overcritical density, which is an important step forward for the fast-ignition concept. The background plasma density and the density depression inside the channel were characterized with a novel optical probe system. The channel progression velocity was measured, which agrees well with theoretical predictions based on large scale particle-in-cell simulations, confirming scaling laws for the required channeling laser energy and laser pulse duration, which are important parameters for future integrated fast-ignition channeling experiments.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: NA0001944
• OSTI ID: 1186637
• Journal Information: Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics (Print), Vol. 91, Issue 5; ISSN 1539-3755
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English