Controlling femtosecond-laser-driven shock-waves in hot, dense plasma

Abstract

Ultrafast pump-probe reflectometry and Doppler spectrometry of a supercritical density plasma layer excited by 10 17 − 10 18 W/cm 2 intensity, 30 fs, 800 nm laser pulses reveal the interplay of laser intensity contrast and inward shock wave strength. The inward shock wave velocity increases with an increase in laser intensity contrast. This trend is supported by simulations as well as by a separate independent experiment employing an external prepulse to control the inward motion of the shock wave. This kind of cost-effective control of shock wave strength using femtosecond pulses could open up new applications in medicine, science, and engineering.

Recombination of Protons Accelerated by a High Intensity High Contrast Laser

“…In our laboratory, many experiments have been performed using Doppler spectroscopy and pump-probe reflectivity to measure the plasma expansion speed as a function of time at the target front. These experiments [20][21][22][23][24][25] give cold electron temperatures comparable to the temperatures given by the model in Fig. 2.…”

Two- and three-body fragmentation of multiply charged tribromomethane by ultrafast laser pulses

“…The fragmentation dynamics of molecules induced by intense near-infrared laser pulses are the subject of a large body of literature, 1–16 both because of their fundamental role in understanding the interaction of intense fields with matter and because of practical implications, e.g. , ultrafast plasma dynamics 5 and coherent control of chemical reactions.…”

“…The fragmentation dynamics of molecules induced by intense near-infrared laser pulses are the subject of a large body of literature, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] both because of their fundamental role in understanding the interaction of intense fields with matter and because of practical implications, e.g., ultrafast plasma dynamics 5 and coherent control of chemical reactions. 12,13 Often, these fragmentation dynamics involve not only bondbreaking but also the formation of new chemical bonds that lead to transient (transition state, roaming intermediate, etc.)…”

Formation and evolution of post-solitons following a high intensity laser-plasma interaction with a low-density foam target

“…The results in blue in figure 2 are possibly Doppler-shifted as a result of a shock-like phenomena travelling through an over-dense plasma similar to that seen in solid density targets [33,34]. However, the larger wavelength shifted results are unlikely to be the result of Doppler-shifting from reflections off moving over-critical plasma, simply due to the much larger Doppler-shifting in both cases.…”