Parametric instabilities and hot electron generation in the interactions of broadband lasers with inhomogeneous plasmas

Abstract

Abstract The development of parametric instabilities in the interaction of a large-scale inhomogeneous plasma with either a monochromatic or a broadband laser pulse is investigated theoretically and numerically. For a monochromatic laser at an intensity of 1.5 × 10 15  W cm−2, the development of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) in the relatively low density region will obviously dissipate pump laser and hence inhibit the development of Two-Plasmon Decay (TPD) and absolute Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) near the quarter-critical density. By using a laser with a moderate fractional bandwidth (∼1.0%) at the same averged intensity, it is found that the laser reflectivity will be greatly reduced since the SBS can be suppressed effectively due to its low linear growth rate. On the contrary, the TPD and absolute SRS are obviously enhanced since the in situ laser intensity near the quarter-critical density becomes stronger in this case. As a result, the hot electron generation due to the TPD and absolute SRS is dramatically enhanced as well. This indicates that the competition between various parametric instabilities in a large-scale inhomogeneous plasma makes it more challenging to simultaneously suppress all kinds of parametric instabilities by using broadband lasers. Particular attention should be paid to the TPD, which not only has a relatively large linear growth rate but also is efficient in generating harmful hot electrons. Increasing the laser bandwidth further, the hot electron generation will be finally reduced as long as the TPD and SRS are also suppressed with a sufficient bandwidth ( ⩾ 3%) at the intensity of 1.5 × 10 15  W cm−2 that may be encountered in some novel ignition schemes such as shock ignition. However, it is worth noting that the laser bandwidth required to mitigate parametric instabilities and hot electron production strongly depends on laser intensity. A moderate laser bandwidth (∼1%) may be sufficient to mitigate both the laser reflectivity and hot electron production for typical ICF target designs operated with laser intensities lower than 1015 W cm−2.