Experimental study of laser beam transmission and power accounting in a large scale length laser plasma

Abstract

It is shown that the measured laser power transmission through a large scale length, high temperature plasma (which emulates an indirect drive ignition-scale plasma) is in approximate agreement with the simulated transmission provided the simulations account for the power loss due to scattering from laser-plasma instabilities. Detailed accounting of the incident, transmitted, scattered, and absorbed powers is used to infer the likely location in the target where most of the scattering occurs along the incident beam trajectory. This location is near the incident laser side of the target at peak electron temperatures for a range of laser intensities. As a result, the backscattered light measurements at peak electron temperature do not require significant adjustment to account for attenuation of the backscattered light as it propagates out through the plasma.