Observation of Severe Heat-Flux Limitation and Ion-Acoustic Turbulence in a Laser-Heated Plasma

Abstract
The thermal conductivity of a plasma of density 6 × 1016 cm3 is measured when it is heated by a 300-MW, 3-ns CO2 laser pulse. The data are best represented using a heat flux which is limited to ∼ 4% of the free-streaming limit. Low-frequency turbulence is observed of sufficient intensity to cause this flux limit.