Anomalous Self-Generated Electrostatic Fields in Nanosecond Laser-Plasma Interaction
Abstract
Electrostatic (E) fields associated with the interaction of a well-controlled, high-power, nanosecond laser pulse with an underdense plasma are diagnosed by proton radiography. Using a current 3D wave propagation code equipped with nonlinear and nonlocal hydrodynamics, we can model the measured E-fields that are driven by the laser ponderomotive force in the region where the laser undergoes filamentation. However, strong fields of up to 110 MV/m measured in the first millimeter of propagation cannot be reproduced in the simulations. This could point to the presence of unexpected strong thermal electron pressure gradients possibly linked to ion acoustic turbulence, thus emphasizing the need for the development of full kinetic collisional simulations in order to properly model laser-plasma interaction in these strongly nonlinear conditions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1101.0730,
title = {Anomalous Self-Generated Electrostatic Fields in Nanosecond Laser-Plasma Interaction},
author = {L. Lancia and M. Grech and S. Weber and J. -R. Marquès and L. Romagnani and M. Nakatsutsumi and P. Antici and A. Bellue and N. Bourgeois and J. -L. Feugeas and T. Grismayer and T. Lin and Ph. Nicolaï and B. Nkonga and P. Audebert and R. Kodama and V. T. Tikhonchuk and J. Fuchs},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.0730},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
12 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physics of Plasmas