Pump-Depletion Dynamics and Saturation of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Shock Ignition Relevant Experiments (1909.00094v1)

Abstract: As an alternative inertial confinement fusion scheme with predicted high energy gain and more robust designs, shock ignition requires a strong converging shock driven by a shaped pulse with a high-intensity spike at the end to ignite a pre-compressed fusion capsule. Understanding nonlinear laser-plasma instabilities in shock ignition conditions is crucial to assess and improve the laser-shock energy coupling. Recent experiments conducted on the OMEGA-EP laser facility have for the first time demonstrated that such instabilities can $\sim$100\% deplete the first 0.5 ns of the high-intensity laser pump. Analysis of the observed laser-generated blast wave suggests that this pump-depletion starts at 0.01--0.02 critical density and progresses to 0.1--0.2 critical density. This pump-depletion is also confirmed by the time-resolved stimulated Raman backscattering spectra. The dynamics of the pump-depletion can be explained by the breaking of ion-acoustic waves in stimulated Brillouin scattering. Such strong pump-depletion would inhibit the collisional laser energy absorption but may benefit the generation of hot electrons with moderate temperatures for electron shock ignition [Shang et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119 195001 (2017)].