Beam instabilities in laser-plasma interaction relevant to fast ignition

Summary form only given. In a Fast Ignition approach to achieving inertial confinement fusion (ICF) the processes of thermonuclear fuel compression and ignition are separated. The fusion fuel is partially compressed with a primary series of long-pulse, high energy lasers and in one scheme a single high power, short-pulse laser is used to drive a stream of energetic electrons into the core of the plasma to heat and ignite the compressed fuel.