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International audience; Ray-based cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) models have become a common feature of the radiation-hydrodynamic codes used to simulate inertial confinement fusion experiments. These models are necessary for achieving better agreement with experimental measurements, but their detailed implementation can vary widely between the codes and often rely on artificial multipliers. To address this, a series of 2D and 3D test cases has been developed with validated solutions from wave-based calculations. Comparisons of various ray-based CBET models to the wave-based calculations highlight the essential physics that is required for accurate ray-based CBET modeling. Quantitative comparison metrics and/or field data from the wave-based calculations have been made available for use in the validation of other ray-based CBET codes.

In nonlinear Thomson scattering, a relativistic electron reflects and re-radiates the photons of a laser pulse, converting optical light to x rays or beyond. While this extreme frequency conversion offers a promising source for probing high-energy-density materials and driving uncharted regimes of nonlinear quantum electrodynamics, conventional nonlinear Thomson scattering has inherent tradeoffs in its scaling with laser intensity. Here we discover that the ponderomotive control afforded by spatiotemporal pulse shaping enables novel regimes of nonlinear Thomson scattering that substantially enhance the scaling of the radiated power, emission angle, and frequency with laser intensity. By appropriately setting the velocity of the intensity peak, a spatiotemporally shaped pulse can increase the power radiated by orders of magnitude. The enhanced scaling with laser intensity allows for operation at significantly lower electron energies and can eliminate the need for a high-energy electron accelerator., Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures

We report on progress in the understanding of the effects of kilotesla-level applied magnetic fields on relativistic laser–plasma interactions. Ongoing advances in magnetic-field–generation techniques enable new and highly desirable phenomena, including magnetic-field–amplification platforms with reversible sign, focusing ion acceleration, and bulk-relativistic plasma heating. Building on recent advancements in laser–plasma interactions with applied magnetic fields, we introduce simple models for evaluating the effects of applied magnetic fields in magnetic-field amplification, sheath-based ion acceleration, and direct laser acceleration. These models indicate the feasibility of observing beneficial magnetic-field effects under experimentally relevant conditions and offer a starting point for future experimental design.

Radiation reaction (RR) is the oldest still-unsolved problem in electrodynamics. In addition to conceptual difficulties in its theoretical formulation, the requirement of exceedingly large charge accelerations has thus far prevented its unambiguous experimental identification. Here, we show how measurable RR effects in a laser-electron interaction can be achieved through the use of flying focus pulses (FFPs). By allowing the focus to counterpropagate with respect to the pulse phase velocity, a FFP overcomes the intrinsic limitation of a conventional laser Gaussian pulse (GP) that limits its focus to a Rayleigh range. For an electron initially also counterpropagating with respect to the pulse phase velocity, an extended interaction length with the laser peak intensity is achieved in a FFP. As a result, the same RR deceleration factors are obtained, but at FFP laser powers orders of magnitude lower than for ultrashort GPs with the same energy. This renders the proposed setup much more stable than those using GPs and allows for more accurate \emph{in situ} diagnostics. Using the Landau-Lifshitz equation of motion, we show numerically and analytically that the capability of emerging laser systems to deliver focused FFPs will allow for a clear experimental identification of RR., 13 pages, 5 figures

Broadband lasers have the potential to mitigate cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. A quantitative assessment of the bandwidth required for CBET mitigation necessitates the development of broadband ray-based CBET models that can be implemented in the radiation-hydrodynamic codes that are used to design ICF experiments. Two different approaches to broadband ray-based CBET modeling (discrete and fixed spectrum) are developed and compared to wave-based calculations. Both approaches give good agreement with wave-based calculations in ICF-relevant configurations. Full-scale 3D calculations show that the bandwidth required for adequate CBET mitigation increases with increasing scale and drive intensity.

Experiments have been conducted on the OMEGA EP laser facility to study the effect of density scale length and overlapping beam geometry on laser-plasma instabilities near and below the quarter-critical density. Experiments were conducted in both planar geometry (density scale length [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 190 to 300 [Formula: see text]m) and spherical geometry ([Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 150 [Formula: see text]m) with up to four overlapping beams and were designed to have overlapped intensities and density scale lengths comparable to OMEGA spherical experiments, but with many fewer beams. In comparison with previous experiments on OMEGA and National Ignition Facility, it is confirmed that shorter density scale lengths favor the two-plasmon decay (TPD) instability, while longer density scale lengths favor stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). In addition, for experiments at the same scale length and overlapped laser intensity, higher single-beam intensities favor SRS, while a larger number of overlapping beams favor TPD.

The independent-hot-spot model is used to develop an analytic formulation for multibeam laser-plasma instabilities in inhomogeneous plasmas. The model is applied to the absolute two-plasmon-decay instability and shows good agreement with simulations and experiments. The success of the model indicates the emergence of single-speckle behavior for sufficiently large speckles sizes.

The intensity peak of a "flying focus" travels at a programmable velocityover many Rayleigh ranges while maintaining a near-constant profile. Assessingthe extent to which these features can enhance laser-based applicationsrequires an accurate description of the electromagnetic fields. Here we presentexact analytical solutions to Maxwell's equations for the electromagneticfields of a constant-velocity flying focus, generalized for arbitrarypolarization and orbital angular momentum. The approach combines the complexsource-point method, which transforms multipole solutions into beam-likesolutions, with the Lorentz invariance of Maxwell's equations. Propagating thefields backward in space reveals the space-time profile that an opticalassembly must produce to realize these fields in the laboratory. Comparisonswith simpler paraxial solutions provide conditions for their reliable use whenmodeling a flying focus.

Target preheat by superthermal electrons from laser-plasma instabilities is a major obstacle to achieving thermonuclear ignition via direct-drive inertial confinement fusion at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Polar-direct-drive surrogate plastic implosion experiments were performed on the NIF to quantify preheat levels at an ignition-relevant scale and develop mitigation strategies. The experiments were used to infer the hot-electron temperature, energy fraction, and divergence, and to directly measure the spatial hot-electron energy deposition profile inside the imploding shell. Silicon layers buried in the ablator are shown to mitigate the growth of laser-plasma instabilities and reduce preheat, providing a promising path forward for ignition designs at an on-target intensity of about 10^{15}W/cm^{2}.

Laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs) driven by picosecond-scale, kilojoule-class lasers can generate particle beams and x-ray sources that could be utilized in experiments driven by multi-kilojoule, high-energy-density science (HEDS) drivers such as the OMEGA laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) or the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This paper reports on the development of the first LPA driven by a short-pulse, kilojoule-class laser (OMEGA EP) connected to a multi-kilojoule HEDS driver (OMEGA). In experiments, electron beams were produced with electron energies greater than 200 MeV, divergences as low as 32 mrad, charge greater than 700 nC, and conversion efficiencies from laser energy to electron energy up to 11%. The electron beam charge scales with both the normalized vector potential and plasma density. These electron beams show promise as a method to generate MeV-class radiography sources and improved-flux broadband x-ray sources at HEDS drivers.

Cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) was measured in two regimes where the energy transfer saturation mechanism was determined by the plasma and laser beam conditions. Linear kinetic CBET theory agrees well with the measured energy transfer in all experimental configurations and at all probe beam intensities when accounting for pump depletion and the plasma conditions measured using Thomson-scattering. Simultaneous CBET and Thomson-scattering measurements enabled uncertainties in the plasma conditions to be isolated from CBET theory, which allowed the saturation mechanisms to be identified. In the perpendicular-beam configuration the saturation mode was through ion heating, which resulted from ion trapping in the driven waves and subsequent ion-ion collisional heating. In the co-propagating beam configuration there was minimal ion heating and the saturation mode was through pump depletion.

A typographical error in Kaganovich et al. [Appl. Opt.54, F144 (2015)10.1364/AO.54.00F144APOPAI0003-6935] is corrected here.

Two highly versatile experimental techniques are demonstrated for making preformed plasma waveguides with periodic structure capable of supporting the propagation of ultra‐intense femtosecond laser pulses. These waveguides were made in hydrogen, nitrogen and argon plasmas with a length of 15 mm and modulation period as short as 35 μm. Simulations show that these guides allow direct laser acceleration of electrons, achieving gradients of 80 MV/cm and 10 MV/cm for laser pulse powers of 1.9 TW and 30 GW, respectively. We also demonstrate a technique for making the required radially polarized pulses.

In order to produce multi‐Gev electrons from Laser Wakefield Accelerators, we present a technique to guide high power laser beams through underdense plasma. Experimental results from the Jupiter Laser Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that show density channels with minimum plasma densities below 5×1017 cm−3 are presented. These results are obtained using an external magnetic field (

Direct laser acceleration of electrons provides a low power tabletop alternative to laser wakefield accelerators. Until recently, however, direct acceleration has been limited by diffraction, phase matching, and material damage thresholds. The development of the corrugated plasma channel [B. Layer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 035001 (2007)] has removed all of these limitations and promises to allow direct acceleration of electrons over many centimeters at high gradients using femtosecond lasers [A. G. York et al., Phys Rev. Lett 100, 195001 (2008), J. P. Palastro et al., Phys. Rev. E 77, 036405 (2008)]. We present a simple analytic model of laser propagation in a corrugated plasma channel and examine the laser‐electron beam interaction. Simulations show accelerating gradients of several hundred MeV/cm for laser powers much lower than required by standard laser wakefield schemes. In addition, the laser provides a transverse force that confines the high energy electrons on axis, while expelling low energy electrons.

A Laser Wakefield Accelerator (LWFA) is under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to produce electron bunches with GeV class energy and energy spreads of a few‐percent. The interaction of a high power (200 TW), short pulse (50 fs) laser with neutral He gas can generate quasi‐monoenergetic electron beams at energies up to 1 GeV [1]. The laser pulse can be self‐guided over 1 cm overcoming the limitation of vacuum diffraction. X‐ray betatron radiation is emitted while the accelerated electrons undergo oscillations in the wakefield electrostatic field. Here we present electron spectra measurements with a two screen spectrometer allowing to measure both the electron energy and the transverse deflection at the plasma exit. We have measured monoenergetic electron beams above 300 MeV. Furthermore a forward directed x‐ray beam is observed. Preliminary measurements of the spectrum are in reasonable agreement with the calculated betatron spectrum in the synchrotron asymptotic limit using the measured electron beam parameters.