Ionization heating in rare-gas clusters under intense XUV laser pulses

Journal Article · Thu Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.013201· OSTI ID:21442926

Arbeiter, Mathias; Fennel, Thomas ^[1]

---

1. Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, D-18051 Rostock (Germany)

The interaction of intense extreme ultraviolet (XUV) laser pulses ({lambda}=32 nm, I=10{sup 11}-10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2}) with small rare-gas clusters (Ar{sub 147}) is studied by quasiclassical molecular dynamics simulations. Our analysis supports a very general picture of the charging and heating dynamics in finite samples under short-wavelength radiation that is of relevance for several applications of free-electron lasers. First, up to a certain photon flux, ionization proceeds as a series of direct photoemission events producing a jellium-like cluster potential and a characteristic plateau in the photoelectron spectrum as observed in Bostedt et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 133401 (2008)]. Second, beyond the onset of photoelectron trapping, nanoplasma formation leads to evaporative electron emission with a characteristic thermal tail in the electron spectrum. A detailed analysis of this transition is presented. Third, in contrast to the behavior in the infrared or low vacuum ultraviolet range, the nanoplasma energy capture proceeds via ionization heating, i.e., inner photoionization of localized electrons, whereas collisional heating of conduction electrons is negligible up to high laser intensities. A direct consequence of the latter is a surprising evolution of the mean energy of emitted electrons as function of laser intensity.

• OSTI ID: 21442926
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 82; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOM COLLISIONS
ATOMIC CLUSTERS
BOSONS
CALCULATION METHODS
CAPTURE
COLLISIONAL HEATING
COLLISIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON EMISSION
ELECTRON SPECTRA
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EMISSION
EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
FERMIONS
FREE ELECTRON LASERS
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY HEATING
IONIZATION
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
LEPTONS
MAGNETIC-PUMPING HEATING
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MOLECULAR DYNAMICS METHOD
PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
PHOTOEMISSION
PHOTOIONIZATION
PHOTON COLLISIONS
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
PHOTONS
PLASMA HEATING
POTENTIALS
PULSES
RADIATIONS
SECONDARY EMISSION
SIMULATION
SPECTRA
SPECTROSCOPY
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION