Laser and Particle Beams

Table of Contents - 2007 - Volume 25, Issue 03  


Interferometric investigations of influence of target irradiation on the parameters of laser-produced plasma jets

A. Kasperczuk a1 , T. Pisarczyk a1c1 , S. Borodziuk a1 , J. Ullschmied a2 , E. Krousky a3 , K. Masek a3 , M. Pfeifer a2 , K. Rohlena a3 , J. Skala a3 and P. Pisarczyk a4
a1 Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw, Poland
a2 Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, Prague, Czech Republic
a3 Institute of Physics AS CR, Prague, Czech Republic
a4 Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland

Article author query
kasperczuk a   [Google Scholar] 
pisarczyk t   [Google Scholar] 
borodziuk s   [Google Scholar] 
ullschmied j   [Google Scholar] 
krousky e   [Google Scholar] 
masek k   [Google Scholar] 
pfeifer m   [Google Scholar] 
rohlena k   [Google Scholar] 
skala j   [Google Scholar] 
pisarczyk p   [Google Scholar] 
 

Abstract

Our recent experimental results demonstrate that the formation of plasma jets is a fundamental process accompanying the laser produced plasma expansion, if a massive planar target with relatively high atomic number is irradiated by a defocused laser beam. In this paper some new results on the influence of target irradiation conditions on plasma jet parameters are presented. The experiment was carried out at the PALS iodine laser facility, with the third harmonic beam of the pulse duration of 250 ps (FWHM). The beam energies varied in the range of 13–160 J, the focal spot radii in the range of 35–600 µm. The planar massive targets used in the experiment were made of Cu, Ag and Ta. For measurements of the electron density evolution a three frame interferometric system was employed. The jets were observed in the whole range of the laser energy used. The initial velocities of the plasma jets produced in the reported experiment reached the value of up to 7·107 cm/s, the jets were up to 4 mm long including the jet pedestal and about 400 µm in diameter. Calculations of the efficiency of the plasma jet production show that it decreases with increasing the laser energy.

(Received February 8 2007)
(Accepted May 10 2007)


Key Words: Efficiency of plasma jet production; Electron density; Interferometric system; Plasma jet; Target irradiation.

Correspondence:
c1 Address correspondences and reprint requests to: Tadeusz Pisarczyk, Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, 23 Hery Street, 00-908 Warsaw, Poland. E-mail: pisaro@ifpilm.waw.pl

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