Plasma Jets Driven by Ultraintense-Laser Interaction with Thin Foils

Journal Article · Fri Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.100.225004· OSTI ID:21132486

Kar, S; Borghesi, M; Romagnani, L ^[1]; Bulanov, S V ^[2]; Key, M H; Mackinnon, A J; Patel, P K ^[3]; Liseykina, T V ^[4]; Macchi, A ^[5]; Schiavi, A ^[6]; Willi, O ^[7]

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1. School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University, Belfast, BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)
2. APRC, JAEA, Kizugawa, Kyoto 6129-0215 (Japan)
3. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore California 94550 (United States)
4. ICT, SB-RAS, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation) and MPI-K, Heidelberg (Germany)
5. polyLAB, CNR-INFM and Physics Department, University of Pisa, Pisa (Italy)
6. Dipartimento di Energetica, Universita di Roma 1 'La Sapienza', Roma (Italy)
7. Institut fuer Laser-und Plasmaphysik, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet, Duesseldorf (Germany)

Experimental evidence of plasma jets ejected from the rear side of thin solid targets irradiated by ultraintense (>10{sup 19} W cm{sup -2}) laser pulses is presented. The jets, detected by transverse interferometric measurements with high spatial and temporal resolutions, show collimated expansion lasting for several hundreds of picoseconds and have substantially steep density gradients at their periphery. The role played by radiation pressure of the laser in the jet formation process is highlighted analytically and by extensive two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.

• OSTI ID: 21132486
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 22; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.225004; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
EXPANSION
FOILS
LASERS
PLASMA JETS
RADIATION PRESSURE
RESOLUTION
SIMULATION
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS