  The propagation and energy coupling of intense laser beams in plasmas are
critical issues in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion. Applying magnetic
fields to such a setup has been evoked to enhance fuel confinement and heating,
and mitigate laser energy losses. Here we report on experimental measurements
demonstrating improved transmission and increased smoothing of a high-power
laser beam propagating in an underdense magnetized plasma. We also measure
enhanced backscattering, which our simulations show is due to hot electrons
confinement, thus leading to reduced target preheating.
