Laser-plasma interactions and hot electron generation in shock ignition
ORAL
Abstract
We present particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations for laser-plasma interactions in the recent 40$+$20-beam spherical shock ignition experiments on the Omega laser facility. Two-dimensional PIC simulations including electron-ion collisions and lasting more than 10 ps show a bursting pattern in both plasma waves and hot electron fluxes, which are attributed to the interplay between stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and two-plasmon decay (TPD) instabilities. SRS is the main source for hot electrons but TPD can produce \textgreater 100 keV ones. The observed hot electron temperatures compare favorably to those measured in the experiments.
*This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under under Grant No. DE-FC02-04ER54789 and Cooperate Agreement No. DE-FC52- 08NA28302, by NSF under Grant No. PHY-0903797, and by NSFC under Grant No. 11129503. The research used resources of NERSC
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