Non-uniform illumination with refraction and inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption of spherical targets for laser fusion

Abstract

Perturbed fluid quantities due to non-uniform laser illumination of a spherical target with scale-length variations of the order of the pellet radius, are analyzed. The model includes localized absorption at the critical surface, inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption and light refraction throughout the corona, and heat conduction restricted to one layer. Light self-focusing may substantially increase the perturbation amplitudes, which are also sensitive to laser wavelength.