title: Stimulated Raman scattering in the relativistic regime in near-critical plasmas.
abstract: Interaction of a high-intensity short laser pulse with near-critical plasmas allows us to achieve extremely high coupling efficiency and transfer laser energy to energetic ions. One-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are considered to detail the processes involved in the energy transfer. A confrontation of the numerical results with the theory highlights a key role played by the process of stimulated Raman scattering in the relativistic regime. The interaction of a 1 ps laser pulse (I∼6×10^{18}Wcm^{-2} with an undercritical (0.5n_{c}) homogeneous plasma leads to a very high plasma absorption reaching 68% of the laser pulse energy. This permits a homogeneous electron heating all along the plasma and an efficient ion acceleration at the plasma edges and in cavities.
authors.affiliation: Université de Bordeaux-CNRS-CEA, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, UMR 5107, F-33405 Talence, France.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.affiliation: Université de Bordeaux-CNRS-CEA, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, UMR 5107, F-33405 Talence, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: d'Humières
authors.affiliation: Université de Bordeaux-CNRS-CEA, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, UMR 5107, F-33405 Talence, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nuter
authors.affiliation: Université de Bordeaux-CNRS-CEA, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, UMR 5107, F-33405 Talence, France.
authors.forename: V T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Tikhonchuk