Investigation of laser plasma instabilities driven by 527 nm laser pulses relevant for direct drive inertial confinement fusion

F. Wasser, Ş. Zähter, M. Rivers, S. Atzeni, F.P. Condamine, G. Cristoforetti, G. Fauvel, N. Fischer, L.A. Gizzi, D. Hoffmann, P. Koester, T. Laštovička, J.F. Myatt, R.L. Singh, M. Sokol, W. Theobald, S. Weber, T. Ditmire, T. Forner, M. Roth

Phys. Plasmas 31, 022107 (2024)

Abstract

We report on a study of laser plasma instabilities with 527 nm laser pulses in an intensity range of 0.5×10¹³−1.1×10¹⁵ Wcm⁻² and plasma parameters entering a regime that is relevant for direct drive inertial confinement fusion. Using the kilojoule high repetition rate L4n laser at the Extreme Light Infrastructure—Beamlines, more than 1300 shots were collected, and the onset and the growth of stimulated Brioullin scattering (SBS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) were studied with a high confidence level. The measured onset intensities are 0.2×10¹⁴ Wcm⁻² for SBS and 1.4×10¹⁴ Wcm⁻² for SRS. At the maximum intensity, the total fraction of backscattered energy reaches 2.5% for SBS and 0.1% for SRS. These results are of high relevance for advanced concepts for inertial fusion energy, which rely on the use of 527 nm laser light to drive the implosion of the fuel target, and in particular, they can be used as a benchmark for advanced simulations.