Mitigation study of laser plasma instabilities with broadband lasers

Laser-plasma instabilities (LPI), such as cross-beam energy transfer (CBET), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), and two-plasmon decay (TPD), play a critical role in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion. These instabilities can inhibit the coupling of laser energy to the target plasma by redirecting the laser light into unwanted directions and prematurely heat the imploding fuel by generating suprathermal electrons. To date, the most promising mitigation strategy for these instabilities involves the use of powerful lasers with broad spectrum bandwidths. Here, we will present the preliminary study conducted at Focused Energy. We will compare results from both particle-in-cell (VPIC) and linear, wave-based (LPSE) simulations to understand the mitigation effect of laser bandwidths in nonlinear, kinetic regimes.