Plasma expansion and relativistic filamentation in intense laser-irradiated cone targets

Compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) cone targets have been shown to produce increased MeV photons on the NIF-ARC by 10x over flat targets. Multiple x-ray frames can potentially be generated by firing the NIF-ARC's beamlets into distinct cone targets at few nanosecond relative delays. This requires that the cone targets with delayed beams are not degraded by their proximity to previous targets. One concern is that the spatial wings of a beam fired into one target can fall on neighboring targets, producing a preformed plasma that may interfere with laser light reaching the tip of the cone. In this work, 3D hydra simulations of realistic targets and beam parameters show that hundreds of micrometer scale length preplasmas are produced in cones within 1 mm of the laser spot. 2D particle-in-cell simulations of the intense main pulse in this preplasma indicate a density threshold for the onset of relativistic filamentation in our conditions. Applying our modeling approach to a NIF-ARC shot with an intentional 15 J prepulse yields good agreement with experimental results.

Automated summary

Compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) cone targets can increase MeV photon production, but spatial wings of the beam may interfere with neighboring targets' preformed plasma. Assessing this interaction is crucial for optimizing laser performance.