Bedros Badrig Afeyan

Time-dependent filamentation and stimulated Brillouin forward scattering in inertial confinement fusion plasmas

Numerical simulations of the temporal evolution of laser light filamentation and stimulated Brillouin forward scattering (SBFS) in plasmas, under conditions that are relevant to laser fusion, are presented and analyzed. Long term unsteady behavior of filaments is observed to be the norm. Temporal and spatial incoherence due to filamentation and SBFS are impressed upon time-independent incident laser beams. The bandwidth and angular divergence imposed upon the beam increase with the strength of the interaction. In addition, the spectrum of the transmitted light is redshifted by an amount that increases with the interaction strength. Spectral analysis of the transmitted light reveals that SBFS plays a role in the generation of the observed temporal incoherence. Incident beams with some spatial incoherence but no temporal smoothing are compared to those with ab initio temporal beam smoothing (TBS). Under typical conditions, TBS beams will undergo far less angular and spectral spreading and far less SBFS than...

A variational approach to parametric instabilities in inhomogeneous plasmas III: Two-plasmon decay

The theory of the two-plasmon decay instability is recast in the form of a variational principle for the pump strength or intensity of the incident laser. This allows the calculation of growth rates, frequency shifts, and threshold conditions for two-plasmon decay modes that occur in integer power law density profiles, including the effects of oblique incidence of the laser and both S and P polarizations. The transition between parabolic profiles occurring at the peak of an exploding foil target and linear profiles on its flanks is treated as well.

A variational approach to parametric instabilities in inhomogeneous plasmas IV: The mixed polarization high-frequency instability

The theories of the two plasmon decay (TPD) instability and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) are unified and presented using a variational formulation. The mixed polarization high-frequency instability is the resulting generalization which has SRS and TPD as special cases. The most unstable mode’s properties are derived and shown as a function of perpendicular wave number. For vanishing wave number we recover the Raman backscattering result and for wave numbers a few times larger than the square root of the homogeneous plasma growth rate normalized to the pump frequency, the two plasmon decay instability modes are recovered. This transition is accompanied by a change of polarization from a purely electromagnetic transversely polarized wave in the case of Raman to a strictly electrostatic or longitudinally polarized wave in the case of TPD, and admixtures in between. Experimental signatures of these modes are given and a method is proposed by which the density scale length and electron temperature would b...

A variational approach to parametric instabilities in inhomogeneous plasmas I: Two model problems

A variational formalism is introduced in the theory of three-wave parametric instabilities in inhomogeneous plasmas. This minimum pump strength principle (MPSP) is then applied to two model problems, the first being the Rosenbluth model equations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 29, 565 (1972)]. By choosing appropriate trial functions, the MPSP is used to solve for the complex eigenfrequency of the most unstable mode. The wave vector mismatch is assumed to be of the form κ(x)=κ(n)(0)xn/n!, where n is any positive integer. The results are compared to numerical solutions of the same eigenvalue problem. The second problem is the Liu, Rosenbluth, and White Raman sidescattering model [Phys. Fluids 17, 1211 (1974)], which is treated for any positive-integer power law density profile. The choice of trial functions, the role of symmetry, and various useful approximations are discussed.

A variational approach to parametric instabilities in inhomogeneous plasmas II: Stimulated Raman scattering

The theory of temporally unstable modes or bound states associated with stimulated Raman scattering in inhomogeneous plasmas is recast in the form of a variational principle for the pump strength or intensity of the incident laser. This Minimum Pump Strength–Variational Principle (MPS–VP) formalism allows the unification of disparate results on growth rates, frequency shifts, and threshold conditions, which in the past relied on specific and restrictive assumptions on the density profile, scattering geometry, temperature, and damping rates. The variational approach leads to generalizations of these results in a uniform manner. Various levels of sophistication in the choice of trial and dual functions are explored. Simplifications and short cuts that will be used throughout this series of papers are tested here, and their regions of validity explored. The principle new result of some practical interest is the growth rate of Raman sidescattering occurring anywhere at the peak or on the flanks of a parabolic...

Demonstration of an optical mixing technique to drive Kinetic Electrostatic Electron Nonlinear waves in laser produced plasmas

A nitrogen gas Raman cell system has been constructed to shift a 70 J 527 nm laser beam to 600 nm with 20 J of energy. The 600 nm probe and a 200J, 527 nm pump beam were optically mixed in a laser produced (gas jet) plasma. The beating of the two laser beams formed a ponderomotive force that can drive Kinetic Electrostatic Electron Nonlinear (KEEN) waves discovered in Vlasov-Poisson simulations by Afeyan et al [1,2]. KEEN waves were detected in these experiments where traditional plasma theory would declare there to be a spectral gap (ie no linear waves possible). The detection was done using Thomson scattering with probe wavelengths of both 351 nm and 263.5 nm.

Pinhole closure measurements

Spatial-filter pinholes and knife-edge samples were irradiated in vacuum by 1053-nm, 5-20 ns pulses at intensities to 500 GW/cm2. The knife-edge samples were fabricated of plastic, carbon, aluminum, stainless steel, molybdenum, tantalum, gold, and an absorbing glass. Time- resolved two-beam interferometry with a 40-ns probe pulse was used to observe phase shifts in the expanding laser- induced plasma. For al of these materials, at any time during square-pulse irradiation, the phase shift fell exponentially with distance from the edge of the sample.. The expansion was characterized by the propagation velocity V2(pi ) of the contour for a 2(pi) phase shift. To within experimental error, V2(pi ) was constant during irradiation at a particular intensity, and it increased linearly with intensity for intensities < 300 GW/cm2. For metal samples V2(pi ) exhibited an approximate M-0.5 dependence where M is the atomic mass. Plasmas of plastic, carbon, and absorbing glass produced larger phase shifts, and expanded more rapidly, than plasmas of heavy metals. The probe beam and interferometer were also used to observe the closing of pinholes. With planar pinholes, accumulation of on-axis plasma was observed along with the advance of plasma away from the edge of the hole. On-axis closure was not observed in square, 4-leaf pinholes.

Final Report for Statistical Nonlinear Optics of High Energy Density Plasmas: The Physics of Multiple Crossing Laser Beams

The various implementations of the STUD pulse program (spike trains of uneven duration and delay) for LPI (laser-plasma instability) control were studied in depth and novel regimes were found. How to generate STUD pulses with large time-bandwidth products, how to measure their optical scattering signatures, and how to experimentally demonstrate their usefulness were explored. Theoretical and numerical studies were conducted on Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) and Crossed Beam Energy Transfer (CBET) including statistical models. We established how LPI can be tamed and gain democratized in space and time. Implementing STUD pulses on NIF was also studied. Future high rep rate lasers and fast diagnostics will aid in the adoption of the whole STUD pulse program for LPI control in High Energy Density Plasmas (HEDP).