Effect of reentrant cone geometry on energy transport in intense laser-plasma interactions

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2009 Oct;80(4 Pt 2):045401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.80.045401. Epub 2009 Oct 22.

Abstract

The energy transport in cone-guided low- Z targets has been studied for laser intensities on target of 2.5x10(20) W cm(-2). Extreme ultraviolet (XUV) imaging and transverse optical shadowgraphy of the rear surfaces of slab and cone-slab targets show that the cone geometry strongly influences the observed transport patterns. The XUV intensity showed an average spot size of 65+/-10 microm for slab targets. The cone slabs showed a reduced spot size of 44+/-10 microm. The shadowgraphy for the aforementioned shots demonstrate the same behavior. The transverse size of the expansion pattern was 357+/-32 microm for the slabs and reduced to 210+/-30 microm. A transport model was constructed which showed that the change in transport pattern is due to suppression of refluxing electrons in the material surrounding the cone.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Energy Transfer / radiation effects*
  • Gases / chemistry*
  • Gases / radiation effects*
  • Hot Temperature*
  • Lasers*
  • Models, Chemical*

Substances

  • Gases