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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Structure of an exploding laser-produced plasma
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. collette@physics.ucla.edu
Abstract:
We describe the first-ever volumetric, time-resolved measurements performed with a moving probe within an expanding dense plasma, embedded in a background magnetized plasma. High-resolution probe measurements of the magnetic field and floating potential in multiple 2D cut planes combined with a 1 Hz laser system reveal complex three-dimensional current systems within the expanding plasma. Static (ωreal=0) flutelike density striations are observed at the leading edge of the plasma, which are correlated to variations in the current layer at the edge of the expanding plasma.
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