ISSN:
1089-7666
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Experiments to study the angular dependence of laser-light absorption in long-scale-length, planar plasmas are reported. Flat-topped, 1 nsec pulses of 0.35 μm laser light, with up to 2.5 kJ at average laser intensities of 3×1013 to 6×1015 W/cm2, were used to irradiate thick, gold targets at angles of incidence of 0° to 〉50°. The scattered light was measured using a number of diagnostics, and the absorption was inferred from these measurements. The absorption decreased somewhat with increasing laser intensity, typically remaining above 90% for laser intensities below 1015 W/cm2, and was very weakly dependent upon the angle of incidence. Modeling of the reflected light was used to constrain the properties of the plasma and of the reflecting mechanism. No simple model of a single mechanism is consistent with all aspects of the data.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.859776
