Magnetohydrodynamics of laser-produced high-energy-density plasma in a strong external magnetic field

A Comprehensive Review on Amplification of Laser Pulses via Stimulated Raman Scattering and Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Plasmas

The demand for high-intensity lasers has grown ever since the invention of lasers in 1960, owing to their applications in the fields of inertial confinement fusion, plasma-based relativistic particle accelerators, complex X-ray and gamma-ray sources, and laboratory astrophysics. To create such high-intensity lasers, free-running lasers were either Q-switched or mode-locked to increase the peak power to the gigawatt range. Later, chirped pulse amplification was developed, allowing the generation of peak power up to 1012 W. However, the next generation of high-intensity lasers might not be able to be driven by the solid-state technology alone as they are already operating close to their damage thresholds. In this scenario, concepts of amplification based on plasmas has the potential to revolutionize the laser industry, as plasma is already a broken-down medium, and hence does not pose any problems related to the damage thresholds. On the other hand, there are many other aspects that need to be addressed before developing technologies based on plasma-based amplification, and they are being investigated via theoretical and numerical methods and supported by several experiments. In this report, we review the prospects of employing plasma as the medium of amplification by utilising stimulated scattering techniques, such as the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) techniques, to modulate high-power laser pulses, which would possibly be the key to the next generation of high-power lasers. The 1980s saw the commencement of research in this field, and possibilities of obtaining high peak powers were verified theoretically with the help of numerical calculations and simulations. The extent of amplification by these stimulated scattering schemes are limited by a number of instabilities such as forward Raman scattering (FRS), filamentation, etc., and here, magnetised plasma played an important role in counteracting these parasitic effects. The current research combines all these factors to experimentally realise a large-scale plasma-based amplifier, which can impact the high-energy laser industry in the near future.

Ultracold neutral plasma expansion in a strong uniform magnetic field

In strongly magnetized neutral plasmas, electron motion is reduced perpendicular to the magnetic field direction. This changes dynamical plasma properties such as temperature equilibration, spatial density evolution, electron pressure, and thermal and electrical conductivity. In this paper we report measurements of free plasma expansion in the presence of a strong magnetic field. We image laser-induced fluorescence from an ultracold neutral Ca^{+} plasma to map the plasma size as a function of time for a range of magnetic field strengths. The asymptotic expansion velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field direction falls rapidly with increasing magnetic field strength. We observe that the initially Gaussian spatial distribution remains Gaussian throughout the expansion in both the parallel and perpendicular directions. We compare these observations with a diffusion model and with a self-similar expansion model and show that neither of these models reproduces the observed behavior over the entire range of magnetic fields used in this study. Modeling the expansion of a magnetized ultracold plasma poses a nontrivial theoretical challenge.

Enhancement of Ablative Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Growth by Thermal Conduction Suppression in a Magnetic Field

Ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth was investigated to elucidate the fundamental physics of thermal conduction suppression in a magnetic field. Experiments found that unstable modulation growth is faster in an external magnetic field. This result was reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic simulation based on a Braginskii model of electron thermal transport. An external magnetic field reduces the electron thermal conduction across the magnetic field lines because the Larmor radius of the thermal electrons in the field is much shorter than the temperature scale length. Thermal conduction suppression leads to spatially nonuniform pressure and reduced thermal ablative stabilization, which in turn increases the growth of ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

Dynamics of laser-generated magnetic fields using long laser pulses

We report on the experimental investigation of magnetic field generation with a half-loop gold sheet coil driven by long-duration (10 ns) and high-power (0.5 TW) laser pulses. The amplitude of the magnetic field was characterized experimentally using proton deflectometry. The field rises rapidly in the first 1 ns of laser irradiation, and then increases slowly and continuously up to 10 ns during further laser irradiation. The transient dynamics of current shape were investigated with a two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulation that included Ohmic heating of the coil and the resultant change of electrical resistivity determined by the coil material temperature. The numerical simulations show rapid heating at the coil edges by current initially localized at the edges. This current density then diffuses to the central part of the sheet coil in a way that depends both on normal current diffusion as well as temporal changes of the coil resistance induced by the Ohmic heating. The measured temporal evolution of the magnetic field is compared with a model that determines a solution to the coil current and voltage that is consistent with a plasma diode model of the drive region and a 2D simulation of current diffusion and dynamic resistance due to Ohmic heating in the laser coil.

Recent progress in quantifying hydrodynamics instabilities and turbulence in inertial confinement fusion and high-energy-density experiments

Since the seminal paper of Nuckolls triggering the quest of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) with lasers, hydrodynamic instabilities have been recognized as one of the principal hurdles towards ignition. This remains true nowadays for both main approaches (indirect drive and direct drive), despite the advent of MJ scale lasers with tremendous technological capabilities. From a fundamental science perspective, these gigantic laser facilities enable also the possibility to create dense plasma flows evolving towards turbulence, being magnetized or not. We review the state of the art of nonlinear hydrodynamics and turbulent experiments, simulations and theory in ICF and high-energy-density plasmas and draw perspectives towards in-depth understanding and control of these fascinating phenomena. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 2)'.

Pulsed magnetic field device for laser plasma experiments at Shenguang-II laser facility

A pulsed intense magnetic field device was developed for the Shanghai Shenguang-II (SG-II) laser facility. The device using a double-turn coil with 12 mm diameter is capable of producing a peak current of 42 kA with 280 ns rising edge and 200 ns flat top width. A peak magnetic field of 8.8 T is achieved at the center of the coil. A two-section transmission line composed by a flexible section and a rigid section is designed to meet the target chamber environment of SG-II laser facility. The flexible section realizes the soft-connection between the capacitor bank and the target chamber, which facilitates the installation of the magnetic field device and the adjustment of the coil. The rigid section is as small as possible so that it can be inserted into the target chamber from any smallest flange, realizing elastic magnetic field configuration. The magnetic coil inside the chamber can be adjusted finely through a mechanical component on the rigid transmission line outside the target chamber. The adjustment range is up to 5 cm in both radial and axial directions with ∼50 µm precision. The device has been successfully operated on SG-II laser facility.

Laser-Produced Magnetic-Rayleigh-Taylor Unstable Plasma Slabs in a 20 T Magnetic Field

Magnetized laser-produced plasmas are central to many novel laboratory astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion studies, as well as in industrial applications. Here we provide the first complete description of the three-dimensional dynamics of a laser-driven plasma plume expanding in a 20 T transverse magnetic field. The plasma is collimated by the magnetic field into a slender, rapidly elongating slab, whose plasma-vacuum interface is unstable to the growth of the "classical," fluidlike magnetized Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

Laser Amplification in Strongly Magnetized Plasma

We consider backscattering of laser pulses in strongly magnetized plasma mediated by kinetic magnetohydrodynamic waves. Magnetized low-frequency (MLF) scattering, which can occur when the external magnetic field is neither perpendicular nor parallel to the laser propagation direction, provides an instability growth rate higher than Raman scattering and a frequency downshift comparable to Brillouin scattering. In addition to the high growth rate, which allows smaller plasmas, and the 0.1%-2% frequency downshift, which permits a wide range of pump sources, MLF scattering is an ideal candidate for amplification because the process supports an exceptionally large bandwidth, which particle-in-cell simulations show produces ultrashort durations. Under some conditions, MLF scattering also becomes the dominant spontaneous backscatter instability, with implications for magnetized laser-confinement experiments.

Broadening of cyclotron resonance conditions in the relativistic interaction of an intense laser with overdense plasmas

The interaction of dense plasmas with an intense laser under a strong external magnetic field has been investigated. When the cyclotron frequency for the ambient magnetic field is higher than the laser frequency, the laser's electromagnetic field is converted to the whistler mode that propagates along the field line. Because of the nature of the whistler wave, the laser light penetrates into dense plasmas with no cutoff density, and produces superthermal electrons through cyclotron resonance. It is found that the cyclotron resonance absorption occurs effectively under the broadened conditions, or a wider range of the external field, which is caused by the presence of relativistic electrons accelerated by the laser field. The upper limit of the ambient field for the resonance increases in proportion to the square root of the relativistic laser intensity. The propagation of a large-amplitude whistler wave could raise the possibility for plasma heating and particle acceleration deep inside dense plasmas.