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Fast-ion production from short-pulse irradiation of ethanol microdroplets
D R Symes1, A J Comley, R A Smith
1The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We report on the first detailed measurements of ion energy distributions from microdroplet targets under ultrashort (100 fs), intense (10(16) Wcm(-2)) laser irradiation. Protons with kinetic energies of up to 20 keV are produced in a strongly anisotropic microexplosion. Modeling of the incident electromagnetic field indicates strong spatial variations over the surface of the microdroplet. Detailed numerical modeling shows that nonuniform heating on a submicron scale causes temperature inhomogeneities and nonradial pressure gradients, which drive an energetic nonspherical expansion.
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