Characterization of preformed plasmas using a multi-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation code in the study of high-intensity laser–plasma interactions

Abstract

We observed a preformed plasma of an aluminum slab target produced by a high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser. The expansion length of the preformed plasma at the electron density of 3 × 1018 cm−3, which was the detection limit, was around 100 μm measured with a laser interferometer. In order to characterize quantitatively and to control the preformed plasmas, we perform a two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation. The expansion length of the preformed plasma was almost the same as the experimental result, if we assumed that the amplified spontaneous emission lasted 3.5 ns before the main pulse arrived.