Abstract
We report the first interferometric observations of the dynamics of electron-ion cavitation of relativistically self-focused intense 4 TW, 400 fs laser pulse in a He gas jet. The electron density in a channel 1 mm long and 30 μm in diameter drops by a factor of approximately 10 from the maximum value of ∼8×1019 cm−3. A high radial velocity of the plasma expansion, ∼3.8×108 cm/s, corresponding to an ion energy of about 300 keV, is observed. The total energy of fast ions is estimated to be 6% of the laser pulse energy. The high-velocity radial plasma expulsion is explained by a charge separation due to the strong ponderomotive force. This experiment demonstrates a new possibility for direct transmission of a significant portion of the energy of a laser pulse to ions.
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Pis’ma Zh. Éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 12, 787–792 (25 December 1997)
Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.
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Sarkisov, G.S., Bychenkov, V.Y., Tikhonchuk, V.T. et al. Observation of the plasma channel dynamics and Coulomb explosion in the interaction of a high-intensity laser pulse with a He gas jet. Jetp Lett. 66, 828–834 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.567605
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.567605