Production of dense vapor targets for laser-plasma interaction studies with intense ultrashort pulses

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Abstract
The technique of laser-induced ablation of thin films from glass slide substrates has been investigated as a candidate vapor target production method for studies of both tunneling-driven x-ray/xuv recombination lasers and relativistic propagation using intense, ultra-short laser pulses. It is shown by simultaneous two-wavelength interferometry that particle densities of order 1019/cm3 are readily achieved and that some intrinsic ionization accompanies the plume formation. Absorption measurements with both 100 picosecond and 125 femtosecond pulses are consistent with observed edge velocities near 106 cm/sec. The level of ionization drive by the intense 125 femtosecond laser pulse has been coarsely estimated. Averaged estimates from spectral blue shifting of spectra transmitted through the plume are consistently lower than those obtained from evaluation of saturation intensity thresholds based on the sequential nonresonant optical field ionization (OFI) process.

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