Plasma jets driven by ultraintense-laser interaction with thin foils

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Jun 6;100(22):225004. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.225004. Epub 2008 Jun 4.

Abstract

Experimental evidence of plasma jets ejected from the rear side of thin solid targets irradiated by ultraintense (>10(19) W cm(-2)) laser pulses is presented. The jets, detected by transverse interferometric measurements with high spatial and temporal resolutions, show collimated expansion lasting for several hundreds of picoseconds and have substantially steep density gradients at their periphery. The role played by radiation pressure of the laser in the jet formation process is highlighted analytically and by extensive two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.