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Title: Short-pulse laser absorption via JxB heating in ultrahigh intensity laser plasma interaction

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2372463· OSTI ID:20860390
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, P.O. Box 2101, Beijing 100088 (China)

An analytical fluid model for JxB heating during the normal incidence by a short ultraintense linearly polarized laser on a solid-density plasma is proposed. The steepening of an originally smooth electron density profile as the electrons are pushed inward by the laser is included self-consistently. It is shown that the JxB heating includes two distinct coupling processes depending on the initial laser and plasma conditions: for a moderate intensity (a{<=}1), the ponderomotive force of the laser light can drive a large plasma wave at the point n{sub e}=4{gamma}{sub 0}n{sub c} resonantly. When this plasma wave is damped, the energy is transferred to the plasma. At higher intensity, the electron density is steepened to a high level by the time-independent ponderomotive force, n{sub e}>4{gamma}{sub 0}n{sub c}, so that no 2{omega} resonance will occur, but the longitudinal component of the oscillating ponderomotive field can lead to an absorption mechanism similar to 'vacuum heating'.

OSTI ID:
20860390
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 13, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2372463; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English