Laser-Plasma Interactions in High-Energy-Density Plasmas

Abstract

High temperature hohlraums (HTH) are designed to reach high radiation temperatures by coupling a maximum amount of laser energy into a small target in a short time. These 400-800 {micro}m diameter gold cylinders rapidly fill with hot plasma during irradiation with multiple beams in 1ns laser pulses. The high-Z plasmas are dense, (electron density, n{sub e}/n{sub c} {approx} 0.1-0.4), hot (electron temperature, T{sub e} {approx} 10keV) and are bathed in a high-temperature radiation field (radiation temperature, T{sub rad} {approx} 300eV). Here n{sub c}, the critical density, equals 9 x 10{sup 21}/cm{sup 3}. The laser beams heating this plasma are intense ({approx} 10{sup 15} - 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}). The coupling of the laser to the plasma is a rich regime for Laser-Plasma Interaction (LPI) physics. The LPI mechanisms in this study include beam deflection and forward scattering. In order to understand the LPI mechanisms, the plasma parameters must be known. An L-band spectrometer is used to measure the and electron temperature. A ride-along experiment is to develop the x-radiation emitted by the thin back wall of the half-hohlraum into a thermal radiation source.