Abstract
The heating of a Θ‐pinch plasma by a pulsed CO2 laser is considered. In addition to the inverse bremsstrahlung the induced Compton effect is taken into account as a heating process. The influence of the pulse duration on the maximum temperature attained is studied. The results show that it is preferable to deliver the laser energy slowly. In addition, if one seeks to transfer the greatest fraction of laser energy to the plasma, the pulse shape becomes important. Tailored pulses providing an increase in the energy delivery rate when the power absorbed by bremsstrahlung diminishes will increase the contribution of the induced Compton effect to the heating.