Thresholds of absolute two-plasmon-decay and stimulated Raman scattering instabilities driven by multiple broadband lasers

Abstract

Thresholds for the absolute stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and two-plasma decay (TPD) instabilities driven by multiple broadband laser beams are evaluated using 3D simulations at conditions relevant to inertial confinement fusion experiments. Multibeam TPD and SRS backscatter are found to be easier to mitigate with bandwidth than the corresponding single-beam instabilities. A relative bandwidth of 1% increases the threshold for absolute SRS backscatter by a factor of 4 at conditions relevant to ongoing National Ignition Facility experiments and should be sufficient to keep all of the absolute instabilities below threshold in experiments with similar conditions.