Modelling Laser Plasma Instabilities for Hydro-codes

Laser driven inertial fusion is an exciting approach to fusion power that uses lasers to compress millimetre scale capsules of deuterium-tritium fuel. Direct drive inertial fusion uses high intensity lasers over pulse durations of order 10 ns, creating conditions that are favourable for laser plasma instabilities. The instabilities remove energy from the drive, reducing implosion efficiency and symmetry, while accelerating electrons which can preheat the fuel. Predicting the behaviour of these instabilities with accuracy and computational efficiency is difficult with current simulation capabilities. We are creating a fast computational model combining linear theory, pump depletion and saturation mechanisms which will run in-line with hydro-code laser ray-tracing routines, simulating the growth of these instabilities along the paths of the rays. Combining computational efficiency with accurate, but reduced, physics models, our goal is to enable more accurate design of future inertial fusion experiments.