Demonstration of a spherical plasma mirror for the counter-propagating kilojoule-class petawatt LFEX laser system

A counter-propagating laser-beam platform using a spherical plasma mirror was developed for the kilojoule-class petawatt LFEX laser. The temporal and spatial overlaps of the incoming and redirected beams were measured with an optical interferometer and an x-ray pinhole camera. The plasma mirror performance was evaluated by measuring fast electrons, ions, and neutrons generated in the counter-propagating laser interaction with a Cu-doped deuterated film on both sides. The reflectivity and peak intensity were estimated as similar to 50% and similar to 5 x 10(18) W/cm(2), respectively. The platform could enable studies of counter-streaming charged particles in high-energy-density plasmas for fundamental and inertial confinement fusion research. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

In this study, a counter-propagating laser beam platform using a spherical plasma mirror was developed and evaluated for high-energy lasers. The performance of the plasma mirror was assessed by measuring parameters such as reflectivity and peak intensity. The platform enables the study of counter-streaming charged particles in high-energy-density plasmas.