Scaling hot-electron generation to long-pulse, high-intensity laser-solid interactions
- Fusion Science Center for Extreme States of Matter and Fast Ignition Physics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)
- Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)
- General Atomics, San Diego, California 92186 (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
Experiments have been performed to determine the effect of laser-pulse duration and energy on hot-electron-generation efficiency at high intensity. Thin copper foil targets were irradiated with 1 to 2100 J, 1 to 10 ps pulses focused to intensities >10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}. The target volume was varied from 75 x 75 x 3 {mu}m{sup 3} to 600 x 600 x 50 {mu}m{sup 3} to access a range of bulk thermal-electron temperatures up to several hundred electron volts. Comparison of K-photon spectroscopy measurements from these targets with electron transport and radiation-generation calculations indicates that the energy conversion efficiency into hot electrons is 20 {+-} 10%, independent of laser-pulse duration and energy.
- OSTI ID:
- 21537901
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3560569; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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