Laser-Cluster Interaction: X-Ray Production by Short Laser Pulses

Deiss, Cornelia; Rohringer, Nina; Burgdörfer, Joachim; Lamour, Emily; Prigent, Christophe; Rozet, J.P.; Vernhet, D.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.96.013203

Cited by 57 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In the beginning of the interaction, the cluster behaves like a polarizable sphere driven by the laser field [15]: the electron cloud oscillates with respect to the ionic background, and the resulting net positive and negative charges at the cluster poles induce a dipole field. As, after reaching the first ionization threshold, the electron density ρ (e) (t > t 1 ) is so high that the associated plasma frequency ω P = 4πρ (e) (t)/3 exceeds the driving frequency of the laser, the dipole field screens the laser field inside the cluster.…”

Section: Cluster Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simulation of the dynamics of laser-cluster interaction

Deiss

Burgdörfer

2007

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Abstract. We study the interaction of an intense (I 10 15 Wcm −2 ) femtosecond laser pulse with a large (N > 10000 atoms) rare-gas cluster. The simulations are based on a mean-field classical transport approach. The electronic dynamics during the interaction with the laser are discussed in more detail. In particular we point out the difference in behavior between the fast electrons and the collectively moving slow electrons and try to shed light on the acceleration mechanisms behind the high energy tail of the electron energy distribution. The benchmark for our simulations is experimental X-ray spectroscopy data. We show a comparison with the experimentally found total X-ray yields and charge-state distributions. IntroductionRanging in size from a few atoms to several million atoms agglomerated at solid densities, clusters form a link between the gas and the solid phase. One manifestation is the up-conversion of the incident infra-red laser into keV X-ray photons in rare-gas clusters, which takes place with a relatively high efficiency providing large X-ray yields just like in solids, yet is relatively debris-free, a property shared with gas targets [1]. Similar behavior has been observed for the emission of energetic electrons [2] or highly charged ions [3], thus making the interaction of intense short and ultra-short laser pulses with clusters a topic of considerable interest [4; 5].In a simple picture, the dynamics during the interaction of a strong laser pulse with a cluster can be summarized as follows [6]: the atoms of the cluster are first ionized by the incident laser pulse (inner ionization) and a cold "nano-plasma" of solid density is formed. The quasi-free electrons take part in a collective oscillation driven by the laser field and, moreover, interact with the field of the surrounding particles. Electron-impact ionization of cluster ions produces additional quasi-free electrons and inner-shell vacancies which are at the origin of characteristic X-ray radiation. As a fraction of the electrons leaves the cluster (outer ionization), a net positive charge is left behind and the cluster begins to expand before disintegrating completely in a Coulomb explosion.The size of the system and the abundance of mechanisms at play provide a considerable challenge for the theoretical description of the interaction. One approach to the problem is treating the cluster as a "nanoplasma" submitted to a laser field [7; 8]. The inclusion of the cluster boundaries and the inhomogeneous ionic background during cluster expansion is however problematic. Molecular dynamics simulations on the other hand are limited to clusters of about 1000 atoms [9][10][11], and a scaling of the results to larger cluster sizes is difficult. Clusters of ∼ 10 4 atoms have been simulated using a microscopic particle in cell (MPIC) code [12], but typical

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Section: Cluster Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For large clusters the method of choice thus seems to be a meanfield approach, for example implemented as particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation [13; 14]. In this case, particular attention has to be paid to the correct incorporation of particle-particle effects otherwise neglected or underestimated due to the averaging [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of the dynamics of laser-cluster interaction

Deiss

Burgdörfer

2007

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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“…We therefore opt for a simplified theoretical description of the dynamics of the laser-cluster interaction [18]. …”

Section: Numerical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

X-ray generation by laser-cluster interaction

Deiss¹,

Rohringer²,

Burgdorfer³

et al. 2006

J. Phys. IV France

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Abstract. We investigate the efficient heating of quasi-free electrons during the interaction of short infrared laser pulses with large rare-gas clusters. In the framework of our mean-field classical transport simulation we are able to explain the emission of characteristic x-rays at moderate laser intensities (I ∼ 10 15 Wcm −2 ) where the ponderomotive energy of the electrons is by far to low to allow for the creation of inner-shell vacancies. We identify large-angle elastic electron-ion scattering as an important heating mechanism at moderate laser intensities.

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“…[49,50]. Variants of the present approach have been previously employed for energetic electron transport through solids [51], ion transport through nanocapillaries to be discussed below, and very recently for the interaction of strong laser fields with large clusters [52]. For illustration, we present an application of Eq.…”

Section: Hybrid Classical-quantum Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%