• Khaghani, D.
• Höfer, S.
• Samsonova, Z.
• Arda, C.
• Kartashov, D.
• Povarnitsyn, M. E.
• Schoenlein, A.
• Kaluza, M. C.
• Pugachev, L. P.
• Hoffmann, A.
• Andreev, N. E.
• Rosmej, O. N.
• Loetzsch, R.
• Spielmann, C.
• Uschmann, I.
• Zähter, S.

Abstract

We present experimental evidence of ultra-high energy density plasma states with the keV bulk electron temperatures and near-solid electron densities generated during the interaction of high contrast, relativistically intense laser pulses with planar metallic foils. The bulk electron temperature and density have been measured using x-ray spectroscopy tools; the temperature of supra-thermal electrons traversing the target was determined from measured bremsstrahlung spectra; run-away electrons were detected using magnet spectrometers. The measured electron energy distribution was in a good agreement with results of Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations. Analysis of the bremsstrahlung spectra and results on measurements of the run-away electrons showed a suppression of the hot electrons production in the case of the high laser contrast. By application of Ti-foils covered with nm-thin Fe-layers we demonstrated that the thickness of the created keV hot dense plasma does not exceed 150 nm. Results of the pilot ... : 15 pages, 10 figures ...

Topics

• density
• energy density
• simulation
• X-ray spectroscopy