Abstract

The topic of laser energy absorption by plasmas attracts significant interest and has importance   in  the context of  various applications such as fusion etc. The  irreversible energy transfer from laser to particles, however, depends on  dissipative transport coefficient (e.g. resistivity). The collisional estimates of resistivity being rather low at high temperature,  plasma can adopt  ingenious ways  to circumvent it. In this talk  recent Particle – In – Cell (PIC) simulation studies carried out by our group which uncover  certain novel mechanisms of laser energy absorption by electrons as well as   ions will be presented. Specifically, an ingenious way of energetic electron production through  colliding surface waves on plasma micro globules will be discussed. Furthermore, it will be  shown that by employing strong magnetic fields laser energy can be directly transferred to the heavier ion species.