Interaction of 0.53 μm laser pulse with millimeter-scale plasmas generated with gas-bag target

Abstract

Reported are the interactions of 0.53 μm laser pulse with millimeter-scale plasmas that are produced with gas-bag target irradiated with 0.35 μm laser pulses. The generated plasmas are characterized with collective Thomson scattering and space- and time-resolved X-ray images. The density of the plasmas is about 0.1 nc corresponding to the 0.53 μm laser beam, and the temperature is about 0.64 keV with a filling gas of C5H12. The interaction laser beam can output 1.0 kJ energy within the duration of 1 ns at the wavelength of 0.53 μm, leading to a nominal intensity less than 1.5 × 1015 W/cm2. The reflectivity of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is measured with a full aperture backscatter system. The experimental results show than the reflectivity of SBS is less than 5% and that of SRS is less than 1%. It is a positive result with respect to using 0.53 μm lasers as drivers for laser fusion.