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The excitation of surface plasma waves (SPW) by an intense short laser pulse is a useful tool to enhance the laser absorption and the electron heating in the target. In this work, the influence of the transverse laser profile and the pulse duration used to excited SPW is investigated from Fluid and 2D Particle-in-Cell simulations. We show the existence of a lobe of surface plasma wave modes. Our results highlight surface plasma waves excitation mechanism and define the laser parameters to optimise the SPW excitation and the kinetic energy of the associated electron trapped in the wave. It opens the door to monitor the spectral mode distribution and temporal shape of the excited surface waves in the high relativistic regime. The most important result of the study is that—at least in 2D—the charge and the energy of the electron bunches depend essentially on the laser energy rather than on temporal or spatial shape of the laser pulse.

Conventional solid-density laser-plasma targets quickly ionize to make a plasma mirror, which largely reflects ultra-intense laser pulses. This Fresnel reflection at the plane boundary largely wastes our e orts at ultra-intense laser/solid interaction, and limits target heating to nonlinear generation of high-energy electrons which penetrate inward. One way around this dual problem is to create a material with an anisotropic dielectric function, for instance by nanostructuring a material in such a way that it cannot support the material responses which generate a specularly reflected beam. We present linear theory for metallic and plasma nanowires, particle-incell simulations of the interaction of ultra-intense femtosecond pulses with nickel nanowires, showing penetration of laser light far deeper than a nickel skin-depth, helping to uniformly heat near-solid material to conditions of high energy-densities, and XFEL experiments giving insight into their ionization and excitation.

The distribution function of electrons accelerated by intense laser pulses at steep vacuum-plasma interfaces is investigated by using the Fokker-Planck equation and methods from extreme statistics. The energy spectrum of electrons penetrating into the dense plasma after being accelerated at the interface and in the preplasma shows a systematic cutoff-like decrease in the momentum component p x / m e c along the laser propagation axis. While the distribution associated with the kinetic energy spectrum (Ekin) is often approximated by a thermal distribution, F ( E kin ) ∝ exp ( − E kin / T h ), with a hot particle temperature Th, the nature of the distribution close to the cutoff is clearly nonthermal. Electron distributions are analyzed here from two-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. Via a comparison with solutions derived from a Fokker-Planck equation and based on Chirikov's standard map models, we find that the electron distributions show a clear signature of stochastic heating, due to repeated acceleration in the standing wave in the preplasma. Further analysis of the solutions to the Fokker-Planck equation allows us to describe the cutoff seen in the momentum p of the distributions F(p), which can be expressed as a function of time τ in the form F ( p , τ ) ∝ [ ( p max − p ) / δ p ] exp ( − 2 p 3 / 9 τ ), portraying a time-dependent cutoff at p → p max. This implies that the energetic tail of the distribution belongs to the maximum domain of attraction of the Weibull law, which means that the probability to find high-energy electrons varies abruptly near pmax. The variance of physical observables sensitive to the high-energy tail is consequently considerably higher than when assuming thermal distribution.

The interaction of an ultraintense (2 × 1021 W/cm2) and ultrashort (18 fs) laser pulse with micrometer-scale aluminum foils is studied via the use of two and three dimensional (2D and 3D) particle-in-cell simulations. One shows that for a plane target with a steep density step, total (collisional and collisionless) absorption is weak. On the other hand, the use of structured targets (gratings in our case) or the presence of a sharp density gradient at the front of the slab allows a better coupling between the laser pulse and the target, and this yields a high absorption rate and ultraenergetic aluminum ions (in the 1 GeV range) generated by target normal sheath acceleration. By changing the characteristics of the grating, it is possible to control, to some extent, the absorption rate and the cutoff of the ion spectrum. It is also shown that a relatively simple model based on the adiabatic self-similar expansion of the target in the ultrarelativistic limit provides reasonable agreement with the simulation results. Finally, the comparison of 2D and 3D results for the interaction with gratings shows that 2D simulations accurately describe the absorption by 2D gratings but, on the other hand, they significantly overestimate the ion-spectrum cutoff.

We present the results of a parametric study of the interaction of intense laser pulse of intensity varying from 10 18 W/cm 2 up to 10 21 W/cm 2 with plasmas of density ranging from 10 times up to 160 times critical density. This study has been performed with the help of large 2D and 3D PIC simulations. It gives clear evidences that the divergence of the beam is an intrinsic property of the interaction of a laser pulse with a sharp density gradient. This divergence is related to the excitation of large static magnetic fields in the layer of interaction. The effective spread is a complex balance between the intensity of the beam and the plasma density.

The control of parametric instabilities in large plasmas remains a challenge for the ICF program. Clearly, kinetic effects play an important role in the saturation mechanisms. Sub-picosecond Thomson analysis associated with short pulse interaction permits to explore these topics. A set of experiments have been performed in preformed, He plasmas using the 100-TW laser facility at LULI. The spectra of the electrostatic waves driven by stimulated Raman and Brillouin backscatterings generated in the 1.5 ps, ω laser interaction have been measured with 0.3 ps time-resolution by using a short Thomson probe. Additionally, space-resolved and k-resolved spectra have been obtained. The experiments show that the fastest instability -B-SRS- first develops in the rising part of the pump. The B-SBS-driven IAW grows more slowly. B-SRS then abruptly vanishes around the maximum of the pump, while the IAW can be detected tens of picoseconds after the pump, allowing direct measurement of the IAW damping. The EPW k-spectra show that the EPW dispersion relation significantly deviates from the standard one. They exhibit a k-feature which could be related to the presence of a hot electron population produced in the B-SRS saturation process.

The role of ion and electron kinetic effects in the nonlinear evolution of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is investigated by means of particle-in-cell numerical simulations. The simulations were carried out in one and two spatial dimensions (ID and 2D), with a full PIC code, in which both ions and electrons are kinetic. The full PIC simulations are compared with those obtained from a hybrid PIC code (kinetic ions and Boltzmann electrons), making it possible to determine in which limit the electron kinetic effects are important. The simulation geometry corresponds to a coherent laser beam interacting with an expanding plasma slab. In the ID simulations, the interaction becomes incoherent, as time goes on, in a domain that spatially begins in the plasma region close to the laser light entrance, and that ends within the plasma at a frontier which moves faster than the ion acoustic wave (IAW) velocity. The higher the laser intensity, the faster moves the frontier of this spatial domain. The SBS reflectivity drops at the very moment when this domain fills entirely the plasma. Two regimes have to be distinguished. In the regimes of low laser intensity, strong sub-harmonic generation of the excited IAW is observed to take place in this moving spatial domain, so that the SBS reflectivity drop is interpreted as being due to sub-harmonic generation. In the opposite regime of high laser intensity, there is no evidence of strong sub-harmonic generation, whereas a strong ion heating is observed, so that the reflectivity drop is interpreted as being due to enhanced ion damping. In the ID simulations the electron kinetic effects are found to be able to smooth temporally the SBS reflectivity, although the overall picture remains the same when the electrons are taken as a Boltzmann fluid. In the 2D simulations, the SBS reflectivity is observed to drop rapidly in time because of the efficient nonlinear Landau damping on the ions, as previously reported by Cohen et al. [1]. In these 2D simulations, the electron kinetic effects are found to play a negligible role as compared with the ion kinetic effects.

The modulational and Raman instabilities are investigated in the relativistic regime, for a large amplitude electromagnetic wave propagating in a hot plasma of arbitrary density. Temporal growth rates and the number of unstable branches are determined when the plasma temperature, density, and the amplitude of the wave vary. The convective or absolute nature of the Raman instabilities is then determined. The present paper extends previous results by Guerin et al. [Phys. Plasmas 2, 2807 (1995)] and Couairon and Mora [Phys. Plasmas 8, 3434 (2001)]. It is shown that for any temperature, the Raman instability is convectively unstable at low density and low intensity, and absolutely unstable when the intensity or the density exceeds a threshold that we determine as a function of the temperature. In contrast with the cold plasma case, the threshold for absolute instability does not coincide with the merging of branches found by a classical temporal stability analysis.

Recent experimental results on ion beams produced in high-intensity laser–solid interactions indicate the presence of very intense electric fields in the target. This suggests the possibility of efficiently heating a solid material by means of the fast electrons created during the laser–solid interactions and trapped in the target, rather than by the laser photons themselves. We tested this mechanism by irradiating very small cubic aluminum targets with the LULI 100-TW, 300-fs laser at 1.06-μm wavelength. X-ray spectra were measured with an ultra-fast streak camera, coupled to a conical Bragg crystal, providing spectra in the 1.5-keV range with high temporal and spectral resolution. The results indicate the creation of a hot plasma, but a very low coupling between the rapid electrons and the solid. A tentative explanation, in agreement with other experimental results and with preliminary particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, points out the fatal role of the laser prepulse.

Stationary plasma thrusters are devices that use crossed electric and magnetic fields to accelerate ions to high velocities. Ions are created by collisional ionization of a propellant gas with electrons injected from a hollow cathode external to the thruster. A major issue is the electron transport through the magnetic field. It is known to exceed considerably the values predicted by the classical theory. Various 2D models have shown that wall collisions, which have often been invoked as the origin of this anomalous transport, are in fact insufficient. Anomalous turbulent transport has to be added to the model to recover an adequate conductivity. In the present paper the first 2D kinetic model that shows that, indeed, plasma turbulence can explain the observed conductivity is presented. Without any free parameter the model is able to reproduce numerous experimental features. At the end of the paper a preliminary theoretical analysis of the observed instability is provided.

The propagation of a short and intense laser pulse (1.057 μm, 350 fs, 1017 W/cm2–2×1019 W/cm2) through preformed undercritical plasmas (≈5%–40% of nc) has been experimentally investigated on the 100-TW laser facility at the Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses. The transmission and reflection of the 1 μm laser pulse, the forward- and backward-Raman (respectively, F-SRS and B-SRS) scattered light and the emission of fast electrons are reported. Significant absorption occurs in these plasmas, which is found to increase with the laser intensity. B-SRS is strongly driven at 1017 W/cm2 and gradually decreases at higher intensities. It is shown that the transmission is low and only weakly dependent on the laser intensity. In contrast, the forward Raman scattering continuously increases with the laser intensity, up to 7% of the incident energy at 2×1019 W/cm2 in the lowest density case. The relativistic electrons accelerated in the forward direction appear to be correlated with the F-SRS. The exper...

The dispersion relation for electronic parametric instabilities of a circularly polarized laser wave is solved in the case where the distribution function is supposed to be cold in the transverse direction and to be a linear combination of a cold distribution function and of a Maxwellian in momentum in the longitudinal direction. Only densities below the critical density are considered. It is shown that the longitudinal temperature as expected reduces the growth rate, but that the existence of a hot tail is not sufficient to significantly reduce the instability. It is the bulk of the distribution function that must be heated to efficiently stabilize the system. Another important effect of the heating is to reduce the backscattered component of the instability. An example of a one-dimensional particle simulation performed in the exact conditions of validity of the theory is discussed.

Stationary Plasma Thrusters (SPTs) are ion sources used for satellite propulsion. They operate at low gas density and the electrons are confined by a magnetic field perpendicular to the discharge axis. Experimental observations and recent simulations (hybrid models) based on a simple description of electron transport have shown that SPTs are subject to strong current oscillations due to ionization instabilities. In this paper we present comparisons between the predictions of the simple hybrid model and those from a more detailed PIC-MCC (particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collisions) simulations. The good qualitative agreement between hybrid and PIC models confirms the interpretation of the low-frequency oscillations deduced from our previous work.

Propagation of a high-contrast subpicosecond (400–600 fs) relativistic (Iλ2 up to 2×1019 W⋅cm−2⋅μm2) laser pulse through long preformed overdense plasmas is experimentally studied. Transmission values up to 10% are measured in plasmas with initial peak densities above 10×nc. We compare these results with one-dimensional (1D) analytical calculations of the hole boring effect. It is shown that the ponderomotive force of the laser beam can push forward the overdense plasma, create a channel, and lead to transmission levels similar to the experimental ones.

Propagation of a high-contrast frequency-doubled subpicosecond (300 fs) relativistic (Iλ2 up to 5×1018 W⋅cm−2⋅μm2) laser pulse through thin and initially solid foils is studied. Transmission values up to 10% are measured through targets with initial near solid densities. The strong intensity threshold observed for the transmitted energy is correlated with clear modifications of the transmitted and reflected spectra, electron generation, and beam imaging. Two-dimensional Cartesian particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations that qualitatively reproduce the experimental results suggest specific rapid heating of the thin targets by fast electrons, plasma expansion, and density decrease to relativistically transmissive conditions during the pulse.

A new implicit fully electromagnetic particle in cell (PIC) method is presented in which the full ion dynamic and all the electron guiding centre drifts of a highly magnetized plasma are retained. We show that the electron drifts do not have to be described explicitly, and that they can be simulated using a simple but efficient linear direct implicit method. Tests and simulations using the new scheme are presented.

The formation and evolution of density channels created by the interaction of a short bright (600 fs, $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{18}\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}\ensuremath{\mu}{\mathrm{m}}^{2}$) laser pulse with a preformed plasma are studied by means of experiments and 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Hollow density channels are observed by interferometry, and a fast radial expansion $(5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{8}\mathrm{cm}/\mathrm{s})$ is measured. Magnetic fields around 50 MG inferred from Faraday rotation measurements suggest the occurrence of self-focusing. The PIC simulations support this hypothesis and show ion depletion during the laser pulse as well as radial expansion in agreement with experiments.

The dispersion relation for electron parametric instabilities of a circularly polarized laser wave of arbitrary intensity is established without restrictions on the plasma density. It is obtained in an implicit analytical form and solved numerically. The well-known stimulated Raman scattering, relativistic modulational instability, relativistic filamentation instability, and two-plasmon decay are recovered at low intensity. Their behavior in the ultrarelativistic regime is characterized by a wide extent of the unstable region in the wave vector space, with growth rates equal to a fraction of the laser frequency, and a strong harmonic generation. Particle-in-cell simulations confirm these results and show that the instability leads to a very strong heating of the plasma.

The results of a systematic study of the propagation of very high-intensity laser pulses through slabs of plasma of several tens of microns are presented. One-dimensional and two-dimensional electron parametric instabilities are evidenced. They lead to a rapid longitudinal and transverse heating, and to filamentary structures which progressively merge. The heating results in highly energetic electrons with energy of several tens of MeV. Correlatively, a strong attenuation rate of the electromagnetic wave is observed. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

A general dispersion relation is given for electron parametric instabilities of an ultraintense circularly polarized wave propagating in a plasma. It is valid for any plasma density and wave intensity and corresponds to a generalization of the Raman, relativistic modulational, relativistic filamentation, and two-plasmons instabilities. Its numerical resolution shows different zones of instability in the wave vector space. At high intensities, the zones extend and merge, with growth rates equal to a fraction of the wave frequency. At close-to-critical density and high intensity the instability leads to strong harmonic emission. Particle-in-cell simulations confirm the analytical results.

Due to relativistic effects, a large amplitude electromagnetic wave can propagate in a classically overdense plasma with ω2p≳ω2≳ω2p/γ, where ωp is the plasma frequency, ω the laser frequency, and γ the relativistic factor of an electron in the laser field. Particle‐in‐cell simulations are used to study the interaction of an ultrahigh intensity laser pulse in normal incidence on a one‐dimensional preformed plasma layer. Both electrons and ions dynamics are included. The width of the layer is 10 to 30 μm and the plasma is characterized by (ωp/ω)2=1.5. During the penetration of the electromagnetic wave a large longitudinal electric field is generated. It results in a strong longitudinal heating of electrons which reach relativistic temperatures. This heating further lowers the effective plasma frequency ωp/γ so the layer becomes almost transparent after the plasma crossing by the wave front. Velocity of the wave front, reflection and transmission rates are studied as functions of the incident energy flux, th...

A large amplitude electromagnetic wave propagating in a plasma is known to be subject to severe modulational and Raman instabilities. Previous works were devoted to the weakly relativistic limit and applied mainly to a cold underdense plasma. One extends these works to include the fully relativistic limit for a circularly polarized light for which one derives the dispersion relation in a one‐dimensional plasma. The characteristics of the instabilities are also calculated in the case where the plasma is classically overdense, with 1

In this paper, results of a set of numerical simulations applicable to the problem of particle acceleration by the beating of high‐energy laser waves are presented. The simulations have periodic or open‐ended boundary conditions. The growth rates of the parametric instabilities that are present in both situations are identical. In all cases they yield a destruction of the large amplitude plasma wave in a very short time. The amplitude of the saturation level is shown to be strongly dependent on initial conditions. Finally, some results in the term of the evolution of the distribution function of the background plasma in the context of strong turbulence are shown.

International audience; The development of the Weibel instability during the expansion of a thin plasma foil heated by an intense laser pulse is investigated, using both analytical models and relativistic particle-in-cell simulations. When the plasma has initially an anisotropic electron distribution, this electromagnetic instability develops from the beginning of the expansion. Then it contributes to suppress the anisotropy and eventually saturates. After the saturation, the strength of the magnetic field decreases because of the plasma expansion until it becomes too weak to maintain the distribution isotropic. For this time, the anisotropy rises as electrons give progressively their longitudinal energy to ions, so that a new instability can develop.

International audience; The expansion of a plasma slab into a vacuum is studied using one-dimensional and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. As electrons transfer their longitudinal kinetic energy to ions during the expansion, the electron temperature becomes anisotropic. Once this anisotropy exceeds a threshold value, it drives the Weibel instability, leading to magnetic fields in the megagauss range. These fields induce energy transfer between the longitudinal and transverses directions, which influences the expansion. The impact of a cold electron population on this phenomenon is also investigated. Plasma expansion is a fundamental process which occurs in very different fields, such as astrophysics ͓1,2͔, laser-plasma ion acceleration ͓3–5͔ and thin-film deposition ͓6͔. This phenomenon is usually described by simple one-dimensional models ͓7–9͔. Yet, even when the system is translation-invariant along the plasma surface, several effects ͑e.g., Coulomb collisions ͓10͔͒ can induce momentum transfer between the longitudinal and transverse directions. The purely one-dimensional ͑1D͒ description is thus, in general, inaccurate. In this paper, we show that self-generated magnetic fields can lead to such momentum transfer during the expansion of a collisionless plasma slab. This study is of particular interest in the context of laser-plasma ion acceleration , where an intense laser pulse is focused on a thin foil to create a hot electron population that transfers progressively its energy to ions via the ambipolar electric field at the plasma surface ͓11͔. We assume here that the electron distribution is initially Maxwellian with an isotropic temperature. As the plasma expands, the longitudinal temperature T ʈ decreases and the anisotropy parameter A = T Ќ / T ʈ − 1 increases, which eventually leads to the growth of the Weibel instability ͓12–18͔. The most unstable modes are obtained for k = k x e x , where e x is a unit vector normal to the plasma surface. In this case, the maximum unstable wave vector is k x

The possibility of creating enhanced fast electron bunches via the excitation of surface plasma waves (SPW) in laser overdense plasma interaction has been investigated by mean of relativistic one dimension motion of a test electron in the field of the surface plasma wave study and with two‐dimensional (2D) Particle‐In‐Cell (PIC) numerical simulations. Strong electron acceleration together with a dramatic increase, up to 70%, of light absorption by the plasma is observed.

The effect of ion sound wave (ISW) nonlinearities on the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in long plasmas is investigated within the framework of the Korteweg–de Vries–Maxwell equations. The nonlinear evolution of the driven ISW results in the localization of the ion density on a scale shorter than the wavelength (λs) of the resonant ISW satisfying SBS three‐wave matching conditions. Since the transverse wave amplitudes vary on a much longer scale, a local–global modeling of SBS is proposed in which this scale separation is exploited. The local part of the procedure includes a solution to the damped KdV equation with periodic boundary conditions and driven by a constant amplitude ponderomotive force. In the global part of the analysis approximate solutions for the transverse waves in long plasmas are constructed using the results from the local part. Particle‐in‐cell simulations have been performed in order to investigate the importance of kinetic effects for the local model. Numerical results obtain...

Implicit electromagnetic PIC codes permit to relax the stability constraints imposed by the resolution of the higher frequency electronic modes of the system. This is particularly valuable when modelling the interaction of high-intensity laser pulses with inhomogeneous over-critical plasmas. Here we will present the relativistic extension of the so-called direct implicit method1, 2 including adjustable damping3 and high-order weight factors. This formalism was implemented in the 2Dx–3Dv code ELIXIRS, and benchmarked against explicit simulations for two kinds of physical problems : plasma expansion into vacuum and high intensity laser plasma interaction. In both cases, we will demonstrate the robustness of the implicit solver for rough discretizations. In particular, our new code is shown to capture the main features of laser-plasma interaction, whether average (laser absorption) or microscopic (bunched electron acceleration, ion acceleration). Eventually, the benefit of using second order weight factor will be highlighted.

Energy Energy transfer between a long (3-10 ps) "pump" pulse and a short (400 fs) "seed" one, both at a wavelength of 1.057μm quasi counterpropagating in an underdense preformed plasma and produced from the ionization of a gas jet, was observed. Numerical simulations reveal that the energy transfer is due to the coupling involving ion acoustic waves excited in the Stimulated Brillouin Backscattering in the strong coupling regime. The plasma characteristics were tailored using a high-energy ionization laser beam and the plasma density was controlled using a Thomson scattering diagnostic. The energy exchange was observed for different gas (ion) types, pressures (plasma densities), polarization and intensities of the interacting beams.

International audience; The effect of elastic Coulomb collisions on the one-dimensional expansion of a plasma slab is studied in the classical limit, using an electrostatic particle-in-cell code. Two regimes of interest are identified. For a collision rate of few hundreds of the inverse of the expansion characteristic time $ \tau_e$ the electron distribution function remains isotropic and Maxwellian with a homogeneous temperature, during all the expansion. In this case, the expansion can be approached by a three-dimensional version of the hybrid model developed by Mora [P. Mora, Phys. Rev. E 72, 056401 2005]. When the collision rate becomes somewhat greater than $10^4 \tau_e^{-1}$ the plasma is divided in two parts: an inner part which expands adiabatically as an ideal gas and an outer part which undergoes an isothermal expansion.

We report on highly time- and space-resolved measurements of the evolution of electron plasma waves driven by stimulated Raman scattering of a picosecond, single laser speckle propagating through a preformed underdense plasma. Two-dimensional Thomson scatter spectra indicate that the dominant waves have significant transverse components. These results are supported by particle-in-cell simulations which pinpoint the dominant role of the wave front bowing and of secondary nonlinear electrostatic instabilities in the evolution of the plasma waves.

The one-dimensional expansion of a plasma slab is studied using a kinetic description of the electrons based on an adiabatic invariant. The distribution function of the electrons is determined at any time and any position. Solution of the Poisson equation then enables us to determine the electric potential and the ion acceleration. Special attention is devoted to the disassembly time of the plasma slab which appears shorter than expected, due to the distortion of the electron distribution function. The spatial structures of the ion and electron densities and velocities are presented, together with a prediction of the maximum ion velocity. The model is compared to particle-in-cell simulations and excellent agreement is found.

Nickel nanowires present >90% absorption in an effective skin-depth ~1 mum, making efficient X-ray converters. We present new theoretical and experimental results for intensities from small-signal up to very clean relativistic pulses.

Nanostructured metal targets exhibit low-intensity linear optical absorption > 95%. Is such absorption also possible for ultra-intense femtosecond laser pulses? Analytic theory (low intensities) and particle-in-cell simulations (high intensities) show similarities and remarkable differences.

Nickel nanowires present >90% absorption in an absorption depth ~1 µm, making efficient x-ray converters at high energy-densities. We present new theoretical and experimental results for intensities from small-signal up to relativistic ultrafast pulses.

We present a set of 2D collisional particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with over-dense cold collisional plasmas. The size of these simulations is about 100 times as large as those previously published. This allows studying the transport of energetic particles on time scale of the order of 400 fs without perturbations due to the influence of boundary effects and performing a very detailed analysis of the physics of the transport. We confirm the existence of a threshold in intensity close to the relativistic threshold above which the beam of energetic particles diverges when it penetrates the cold plasma. We also study the applicability of Ohm's law to compute the electric field, which is the method commonly used in hybrid codes. The heating of the cold plasma is then studied and we show that half of the heating is anomalous, i.e., not given by standard Joule effect. We discuss the previously published results in the light of these new simulations.

We study the angular distribution of relativistic electrons generated through laser-plasma interaction with pulse intensity varying from ${10}^{18}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ up to ${10}^{21}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ and plasma density ranging from 10 times up to 160 times critical density with the help of 2D and 3D particle-in-cell simulations. This study gives clear evidence that the divergence of the beam is an intrinsic property of the interaction of a laser pulse with a sharp density gradient. It is entirely due to the excitation of large static magnetic fields in the layer of interaction. The energy deposited in this layer increases drastically the temperature of the plasma independently of the initial temperature. This makes the plasma locally collisionless and the simulation relevant for the current experiments.

The excitation and the relaxation of the plasma waves and ion acoustic waves (IAW), respectively, driven by stimulated Raman (SRS) and Brillouin (SBS) backscatterings have been experimentally investigated with short-pulse lasers. The spectra have been obtained with a 0.3 ps time resolution. It is shown that SRS develops before SBS and suddenly decays around the peak of the pump, as the IAW reaches saturation. On this short time scale, electron kinetic effects play a major role for SRS saturation, contrary to ion dynamics. These results are supported by particle-in-cell simulations.

A comprehensive examination of the interaction of a picosecond-long ignition pulse on high-density (40 times critical density) pellets using a two-dimensional particle-in-cell model is described. The global geometry consists of a $50\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ diameter pellet surrounded by a corona which is isolated by a vacuum region from the boundary. For cone-attached targets, as much as 67% of the incident laser energy is absorbed with 12% sent forward as fast electrons in a 23\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} cone. The current filaments are driven by the Weibel instability of the forward-going fast electron flux and its return current with the ions playing an important role of neutralizing the space charge. No global current filament coalescence has been observed. The electron distribution function obeys a power law, which begins at $E\ensuremath{\sim}0.2\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{M}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$ and falls off as ${E}^{\ensuremath{-}(2--3)}$.