The Production of Strong Blast Waves through Intense Laser Irradiation of Atomic Clusters

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Abstract
An understanding of radiation effects on the evolution of shock waves is of great importance to many problems in astrophysics. Shock waves driven by a laser-heated plasma are attractive for laboratory investigation of these phenomena. Recent studies of intense short-pulse laser interactions with gases of atomic clusters indicate a potential avenue to access this regime of radiative hydrodynamics. We have measured the energy absorption efficiency of high-intensity, picosecond laser pulses in low-density gases composed of large atomic clusters and find that the energy absorption can be very high (> 95%), producing a high-temperature plasma filament which consequently produces a strong blast wave. Interferometric characterization of these shock waves indicates that in high-Z gases such as Xe, radiation transport plays an important role in the evolution of the shock wave.