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DOE OSTI · 2530187

Observation of ponderomotively driven bow shock using Thomson scattering

Milder, A. L. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, NY (United States); University of Alberta (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000299886109)·Bruulsema, C. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000228793730)·Hüller, S. [Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland)] (ORCID:0000000228129485)·Walsh, C. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000266393543)·Rozmus, W. [University of Alberta (Canada)] (ORCID:0009000926603727)·Yin, L. [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000289785320)·Ludwig, J. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000023247605X)·Farmer, W. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000016758220X)·Albright, B. J. [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000277896525)·Rose, H. A. [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)]·Swadling, G. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000183708837)
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Abstract

High-energy speckled lasers are known to exert ponderomotive forces on a plasma. This can reduce flow transverse to the propagation of the beams. When coupled with a supersonic flow, this has been shown to lead to the formation of a shock that travels against the flow. Experiments conducted on the OMEGA laser facility have used Thomson scattering to observe density and velocity changes consistent with this ponderomotively driven shock. Comparisons of the data with hydrodynamic simulations with the ponderomotive force, particle-in-cell simulations with a full Maxwell field solver, and hydrodynamic simulations without the ponderomotive force show that this shock feature is only reproduced when accounting for the ponderomotive force.

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70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGYIndirect driveLaser-plasma interactionsShock waves & discontinuities in plasma

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Milder, A. L. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, NY (United States); University of Alberta (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000299886109), Bruulsema, C. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000228793730), Hüller, S. [Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland)] (ORCID:0000000228129485), Walsh, C. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000266393543), Rozmus, W. [University of Alberta (Canada)] (ORCID:0009000926603727), Yin, L. [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000289785320), Ludwig, J. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000023247605X), Farmer, W. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000016758220X), Albright, B. J. [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000277896525), Rose, H. A. [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)], Swadling, G. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000183708837). 2025-02-13. Observation of ponderomotively driven bow shock using Thomson scattering. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.7.013163

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