Open AccessFormation and evolution of post-solitons following a high intensity laser-plasma interaction with a low-density foam target
Author(s) -
David Blackman,
Amitava Adak,
Prashant Kumar Singh,
Amit D. Lad,
Gourab Chatterjee,
C. P. Ridgers,
Dario Del Sorbo,
R. M. G. M. Trines,
A. P. L. Robinson,
W. Nazarov,
G. Ravindra Kumar,
J. Pasley
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plasma physics and controlled fusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.328
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1361-6587
pISSN - 0741-3335
DOI - 10.1088/1361-6587/abf85c
Subject(s) - materials science , physics
The formation and evolution of post-solitons has been discussed for quite some time both analytically and through the use of particle-in-cell (PIC) codes. It is however only recently that they have been directly observed in laser-plasma experiments. Relativistic electromagnetic (EM) solitons are localised structures that can occur in collisionless plasmas. They consist of a low-frequency EM wave trapped in a low electron number-density cavity surrounded by a shell with a higher electron number-density. Here we describe the results of an experiment in which a 100 TW Ti:sapphire laser (30 fs, 800 nm) irradiates a 0.03 g c m − 3 TMPTA foam target with a focused intensity I l = 9.5 × 10 17 W c m − 2 . A third harmonic ( λ p r o b e ≃ 266 nm) probe is employed to diagnose plasma motion for 25 ps after the main pulse interaction via Doppler-Spectroscopy. Both radiation-hydrodynamics and 2D PIC simulations are performed to aid in the interpretation of the experimental results. We show that the rapid motion of the probe critical-surface observed in the experiment might be a signature of post-soliton wall motion.