Integrated Implicit Particle-In-Cell (PIC) Simulations of PetaWatt Laser Heating of Compressed Cores for Fast Ignition

Summary form only given. There has been much interest in the fast heating of compressed matter by short pulse petawatt lasers. Some time ago, we studied the heating process as applied to the GEKKO/PW experiments at Osaka with a 3D electromagnetic implicit PIC code. One limitation of our analysis was that we legislated the distribution of hot electrons entering the high density region. While the ansantz for the hot electron energy and angular distribution was consistent with experimental data, it clearly lacked rigor. We have now removed that limitation and will present integrated simulations which include the self-consistent laser plasma interaction with the blowoff plasma, as well as the electron transport through the pedestal and deposition in the core. Scaling studies will be performed and presented to predict the efficacy of the heating as the laser power and energy are increased.