Observed insensitivity of stimulated Raman scattering on electron density

The results from experiments in quasihomogeneous plasmas to evaluate the potential threat of high laser reflectivity from stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) to inertial-confinement fusion (ICF) are presented. The SRS laser reflectivity is observed to be sizable (up to 50%) and very weakly dependent on electron density (and kλD), over a large range of density that corresponds to a large variation in Landau damping of plasma waves. In contrast, the reflectivity increases monotonically over time, along with ion temperature, until gross hydrodynamic activity interferes with SRS. This is consistent with previous observations of SRS reflectivity scaling with the damping rate of ion acoustic waves [Fernández et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 2702 (1996); Kirkwood et al., ibid. 77, 2706 (1996)]. The data from plasmas with the highest kλD values indicate anomalously low damping rates for the SRS plasma wave.