Moreau JG, d'Humières E, Nuter R, Tikhonchuk VT. Stimulated Raman scattering in the relativistic regime in near-critical plasmas.
Phys Rev E 2017;
95:013208. [PMID:
28208487 DOI:
10.1103/physreve.95.013208]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Interaction of a high-intensity short laser pulse with near-critical plasmas allows us to achieve extremely high coupling efficiency and transfer laser energy to energetic ions. One-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are considered to detail the processes involved in the energy transfer. A confrontation of the numerical results with the theory highlights a key role played by the process of stimulated Raman scattering in the relativistic regime. The interaction of a 1 ps laser pulse (I∼6×10^{18}Wcm^{-2} with an undercritical (0.5n_{c}) homogeneous plasma leads to a very high plasma absorption reaching 68% of the laser pulse energy. This permits a homogeneous electron heating all along the plasma and an efficient ion acceleration at the plasma edges and in cavities.
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