Observation of energetic electrons produced in laser-irradiated plasmas at quarter critical density

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Abstract
The production of fast electrons in a keV plasma by both the two-plasmon decay and the stimulated-Raman-scattering instabilities is investigated. Two-plasmon-decay waves initially of 1.8 laser wave numbers are shown to trap electrons and subsequently heat them to energies exceeding the phase energy by a factor of 5 while stimulated-Raman-scattered electrons are observed at the phase energy of the absolute instability. Both instabilities are terminated by profile modification but can heat more than 1% of all the electrons in the focal volume.