Skinning of argon clusters by Coulomb explosion induced with an intense femtosecond laser pulse

Journal Article · Sun Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.74.043205· OSTI ID:20863919

Sakabe, S; Shirai, K; Hashida, M; Shimizu, S; Masuno, S ^[1]

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1. Laboratory of Laser-Matter Interaction Science, Advanced Research Center for Beam Science, Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho Uji, Kyoto 611-0011 (Japan)

The energy distributions of ions emitted from argon clusters Coulomb exploded at an intensity of <10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2} with an intense femtosecond laser have been experimentally studied. The power m of energy E of the ion energy distribution (dN/dE{approx}E{sup m}) is expected to be 1/2 for spherical ion clusters, but it is in fact reduced smaller than 1/2 as the laser intensity is decreased. This reduction can be well interpreted as resulting from the instantaneous ionization of the surface of the cluster. The validity of this interpretation was confirmed by experiments with double pulse irradiation. A cluster irradiated by the first pulse survives as a skinned cluster, and the remaining core part is Coulomb exploded by the second pulse. It is shown that a cluster can be skinned by an intense short laser pulse, and the laser-intensity dependence of the skinned layer thickness can be reasonably explained by the laser-induced space charge field created in the cluster.

• OSTI ID: 20863919
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 74; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ARGON
ATOMIC CLUSTERS
COULOMB EXCITATION
DISSOCIATION
ENERGY SPECTRA
ION EMISSION
ION PAIRS
IONS
LAYERS
PHOTOIONIZATION
PHOTOLYSIS
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
PULSED IRRADIATION
PULSES
SPACE CHARGE
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
SURFACES
THICKNESS