Exploring the saturation levels of stimulated Raman scattering in the absolute regime.

This Letter reports new experimental results that evidence the transition between the absolute and convective growth of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). Significant reflectivities were observed only when the instability grows in the absolute regime. In this case, saturation processes efficiently limit the SRS reflectivity that is shown to scale linearly with the laser intensity, and the electron density and temperature. Such a scaling agrees with the one established by T. Kolber et al. [Phys. Fluids B 5, 138 (1993)10.1063/1.860861] and B Bezzerides et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2569 (1993)10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.2569], from numerical simulations where the Raman saturation is due to the coupling of electron plasma waves with ion waves dynamics.

Effect of the laser wavelength on the saturated level of stimulated Brillouin scattering.

Equivalent stimulated Brillouin backscattering (SBS) saturation levels have been measured in the interaction with 0.527 and 0.351 microm laser beams demonstrating that the initial interaction wavelength is not influencing the final saturation levels. Experiments have been performed at the two wavelengths in similar interaction conditions obtained by preforming the plasma from a solid target with a creation beam converted at the same wavelength as the interaction beam. This produces an almost exponential density profile from vacuum to the critical density of the interaction beam in which large SBS gains are reached.

Laser smoothing and imprint reduction with a foam layer in the multikilojoule regime.

This Letter presents first experimental results of the laser imprint reduction in fusion scale plasmas using a low-density foam layer. The experiments were conducted on the LIL facility at the energy level of 12 kJ with millimeter-size plasmas, reproducing the conditions of the initial interaction phase in the direct-drive scheme. The results include the generation of a supersonic ionization wave in the foam and the reduction of the initial laser fluctuations after propagation through 500 mum of foam with limited levels of stimulated Brillouin and Raman scattering. The smoothing mechanisms are analyzed and explained.

Spatial and temporal coherence characterization of a smoothed laser beam.

The measurement of the coherence characteristics of the speckles generated by an optically smoothed laser source is investigated. We present a new method that can be used for every kind of smoothing technique. A modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer allows us to measure both the lifetime and the spatial transverse size of the hot spots generated by a broadband and transverse multimode source. Experimental results agree well with theoretical predictions.

Hot-electron influence on L-shell spectra of multicharged Kr ions generated in clusters irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses.

Strong L-shell x-ray emission has been obtained from Kr clusters formed in gas jets and irradiated by 60-500-fs laser pulses. Spectral lines from the F-, Ne- Na-, and Mg-like charge states of Kr have been identified from highly resolved x-ray spectra. Spectral line intensities are used in conjunction with a detailed time-dependent collisional-radiative model to diagnose the electron distribution functions of plasmas formed in various gas jet nozzles with various laser pulse durations. It is shown that L-shell spectra formed by relatively long nanosecond-laser pulses can be well described by a steady-state model without hot electrons when opacity effects are included. In contrast, adequate modeling of L-shell spectra from highly transient and inhomogeneous femtosecond-laser plasmas requires including the influence of hot electrons. It is shown that femtosecond-laser interaction with gas jets from conical nozzles produces plasmas with higher ionization balances than plasmas formed by gas jets from Laval nozzles, in agreement with previous work for femtosecond laser interaction with Ar clusters.

Photon acceleration of ultrashort laser pulses by relativistic ionization fronts.

We present experimental results from the collision of weak ultrashort pulses with relativistic ionization fronts in copropagation and counterpropagation. The observed frequency upshifts of the probe pulses provide not only information about the electron density of the ionization front but also reveal the fine structure of the front. The connection between the correlation lengths for copropagation and counterpropagation and the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the ionization front is also demonstrated thus showing the feasibility of using the frequency upshift experienced by short probe pulses to fully characterize relativistic ionization fronts and other relativistic coherent structures in laser-produced plasmas.