Time-dependence of laser-driven magnetic field generation for long laser drive conditions*

Magnetized high energy density (HED) laser experiments provide a way to test reduced physics models for heat and particle transport in plasmas as well as the growth of instabilities.  Laser coils provide an all-optical B-field generation technique which uses a laser-drive region to source the current to a conducting loop and achieve B-fields of up to 1 kilo-Tesla.  Recent experiments on the Omega-EP laser have used proton deflection to measure the temporal evolution of laser-coil fields for laser pulse lengths up to 10 ns.  The experiments show the B-field increasing during the laser pulse and then decaying after laser turn-off.  Existing models show agreement with some of the data but may require refinements to achieve a more comprehensive description of the measurements.  We will discuss the laser-coil experiments and the status of the models.