Multibeam Effects on Fast-Electron Generation from Two-Plasmon-Decay Instability

Experiments with multiple laser beams have been carried out in both spherical and planar geometry to study two-plasmon-decay instability, the predominant source of suprathermal electrons in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments. These electrons are observed using the hard x rays generated through electron-target interactions. The experiments show for the first time that the total overlapped intensity governs the scaling of the suprathermal-electron generation regardless of the number of overlapped beams, in contrast to conventional theories that are based on the single-beam approximation.