Accelerating piston action and plasma heating in high-energy density laser plasma interactions

作者：Levy M C^*; Wilks S C; Baring M G

来源：High Energy Density Physics, 2013, 9(1): 198-203.

DOI：10.1016/j.hedp.2012.12.005

• High energy density laboratory astrophysics
• HEDLA
• Ultraintense laser plasma interaction
• LPI

In the field of high-energy density physics (HEDP), lasers in both the nanosecond and picosecond regimes can drive conditions in the laboratory relevant to a broad range of astrophysical phenomena, including gamma-ray burst afterglows and supernova remnants. In the short-pulse regime, the strong light pressure (%26gt;Gbar) associated ultraintense lasers of intensity I %26gt; 10(18) W/cm(2) plays a central role in many HEDP applications. Yet, the behavior of this nonlinear pressure mechanism is not well-understood at late time in the laser-plasma interaction. In this paper, a more realistic treatment of the laser pressure %26apos;hole boring%26apos; process is developed through analytical modeling and particle-in-cell simulations. A simple Liouville code capturing the phase space evolution of ponderomotively-driven ions is employed to distill effects related to plasma heating and ion bulk acceleration. Taking into account these effects, our results show that the evolution of the laser-target system encompasses ponderomotive expansion, equipartition, and quasi-isothermal expansion epochs. These results have implications for light piston-driven ion acceleration scenarios, and astrophysical applications where the efficiencies of converting incident Poynting flux into bulk plasma flow and plasma heat are key unknown parameters. Published by Elsevier B.V.

• 出版日期2013-3