Laser-plasma experiments and laser development at the Naval Research Laboratory

Using the Pharos III Nd glass laser facility, it was found that the induced spatial incoherence (ISI) technique reduces the stimulated convective Raman instability by orders of magnitude as compared with an ordinary laser beam, even with the use of infrared laser light and a low Z target. The threshold for the instability is also in relatively good agreement with analytic theory, in contrast with other experiments with an ordinary laser that have had thresholds an order of magnitude lower than theory. Building has begun of a new KrF laser, called Nike, to test the hydrodynamic stability of accelerating thin targets. This laser has been designed to include the echelon free ISI optical smoothing technique. (author). 15 refs, 2 figs