Inverse bremsstrahlung (IB) absorption and evolution of the electron distribution function (EDF) in a wide laser intensity range $\left({10}^{12}–{10}^{17}\text{W}/{\text{cm}}^2\right)$ have been studied systematically by a two velocity-dimension Fokker-Planck code. It is found that Langdon’s IB operator overestimates the absorption rate at high laser intensity, consequently with an overdistorted non-Maxwellian EDF. According to the small anisotropy of EDF in the oscillation frame, we introduce an IB operator which is similar to Langdon’s but without the low laser intensity limit. This operator is appropriate for self-consistently tackling the nonlinear effects of high laser intensity as well as non-Maxwellian EDF. Particularly, our operator is capable of treating IB absorption properly in the indirect and direct-drive inertial confinement fusion schemes with the National Ignition Facility and Laser MegaJoule laser parameters at focused laser intensity beyond ${10}^{15}\text{W}/{\text{cm}}^2$.

• Received 16 August 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.80.056406