Kinetic simulations of stimulated Raman backscattering and related processes for the shock-ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion

Abstract

A detailed description of stimulated Raman backscattering and related processes for the purpose of inertial confinement fusion requires multi-dimensional kinetic simulations of a full speckle in a high-temperature, large-scale, inhomogeneous plasma. In particular for the shock-ignition scheme operating at high laser intensities, kinetic aspects are predominant. High- (Iλo2~5×1015Wμm2/cm2) as well as low-intensity (Iλo2~1015Wμm2/cm2) cases show the predominance of collisionless, collective processes for the interaction. While the two-plasmon decay instability and the cavitation scenario are hardly affected by intensity variation, inflationary Raman backscattering proves to be very sensitive. Brillouin backscattering evolves on longer time scales and dominates the reflectivities, although it is sensitive to the intensity. Filamentation and self-focusing do occur for all cases but on time scales too long to affect Raman backscattering.