Charge separation and target voltages in laser-produced plasmas

Abstract
Measurement of the voltages of isolated targets irradiated with 50‐psec laser pulses show kilovolt target potentials existing for many nanoseconds. The amplitude of the voltage exceeds what is normally expected for a plasma pressure gradient by roughly an order of magnitude. The voltage amplitude and temporal characteristics are found to be dependent on the vacuum chamber dimensions. A simple one‐dimensional plasma model explains the voltage characteristics through the existence of space‐charge separation effects and leads to a measurement of the plasma temperature.

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