DOE OSTI2015
Optimization of electron coupling into small solid angles is of extreme importance to applications, such as Fast Ignition, that require maximum electron energy deposition within a small volume. To optimize this coupling, we use the ultra-high-contrast Trident laser, which remains below intensity of 10 11 W/cm 2 until < 0.1 ns before the main pulse, while still attaining high-energy, 75 J, and peak intensity of 5 x 10 19 W/cm 2 . Using a cone-wire target, we find that the coupling into the 40 μm diameter wire is increased by a factor of 2.7x over the low-contrast Titan laser at similar peak intensity. Full-scale simulations are used to model the laser interaction and quantitatively reproduce the experimental results. These show that increase in coupling is due to both a closer interaction, as well as the reduction of laser filamentation and self-focusing.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗