Anomalously Hot Electrons due to Rescatter of Stimulated Raman Scattering in the Kinetic Regime

B. J. Winjum, J. E. Fahlen, F. S. Tsung, and W. B. Mori

Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 165001 – Published 15 April 2013

Abstract

Using particle-in-cell simulations, we examine hot electron generation from electron plasma waves excited by stimulated Raman scattering and rescattering in the kinetic regime where the wave number times the Debye length ( $k λ_{D}$ ) is $≳ 0.3$ for backscatter. We find that for laser and plasma conditions of possible relevance to experiments at the National Ignition Facility, anomalously energetic electrons can be produced through the interaction of a discrete spectrum of plasma waves generated from stimulated Raman scattering (back and forward scatter), rescatter, and the Langmuir decay of the rescatter-generated plasma waves. Electrons are bootstrapped in energy as they propagate into plasma waves with progressively higher phase velocities.

Received 18 September 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.165001

Authors & Affiliations

B. J. Winjum¹, J. E. Fahlen², F. S. Tsung³, and W. B. Mori^1,3

¹Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
²Areté Associates, Northridge, California 91324, USA
³Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA