Weibel-mediated collisionless shocks in laser-irradiated dense plasmas: Prevailing role of the electrons in generating the field fluctuations
- CEA, Saclay, INSTN, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
We present a particle-in-cell simulation of the generation of a collisionless strong shock in a dense plasma driven by an ultra-intense, plane-wave laser pulse. A linear theory analysis, based on a multi-waterbag model of the particle distributions, highlights the role of the laser-heated electrons in triggering the Weibel-like instability causing shock formation. It is demonstrated that the return-current electrons play a major role in the instability development as well as in the determination of the saturated magnetic field. By contrast, the ions are found of minor importance in driving the instability and the magnetic field fluctuations responsible for their isotropization. Finally, we show that a Weibel-mediated shock can also be generated by a focused laser pulse of large enough spot size.
- OSTI ID:
- 22490029
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Growth of concomitant laser-driven collisionless and resistive electron filamentation instabilities over large spatiotemporal scales
Collisionless shock experiments with lasers and observation of Weibel instabilities