Nonlinear Polarization Mixing of Laser Beams Interacting with a Plasma
POSTER
Abstract
Understanding the interaction of overlapping laser beams in a plasma is important for precise control of laser energy flow at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and for creating plasma-based high-power optical components. These overlapping beams modify each other’s energy and polarization through a ponderomotive interaction with the plasma [1]. The interaction of the beams is fundamentally a two-dimensional problem [2-4], which has important consequences for both NIF and plasma photonics (due to the effects on polarization and energy exchange). We present theoretical and numerical results detailing the effects of the interaction geometry on the beams. [1] Michel, P., et al. Physical review letters 113.20 (2014): 205001. [2] McKinstrie, C. J., et al. Physics of Plasmas 3.7 (1996): 2686-2692. [3] Lazarow, M., et. al. 49th Annual Anomalous Absorption Conference. Peaks Hotel, Telluride, Colorado. 10 June 2019. Poster Presentation. [4] Kur, E., et. al. 49th Annual Anomalous Absorption Conference. Peaks Hotel, Telluride, Colorado. 10 June 2019. Poster Presentation.
*This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 the NSF-DOE Partnership in Plasma Science under Grant 1803874, and the LLNL-LDRD Program under Project tracking No. 18-ERD-046.