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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Exotic dense-matter states pumped by a relativistic laser plasma in the radiation-dominated regime
J Colgan1, J Abdallah1, A Ya Faenov2
1Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Abstract:
In high-spectral resolution experiments with the petawatt Vulcan laser, strong x-ray radiation of KK hollow atoms (atoms without n = 1 electrons) from thin Al foils was observed at pulse intensities of 3 × 10(20) W/cm(2). The observations of spectra from these exotic states of matter are supported by detailed kinetics calculations, and are consistent with a picture in which an intense polychromatic x-ray field, formed from Thomson scattering and bremsstrahlung in the electrostatic fields at the target surface, drives the KK hollow atom production. We estimate that this x-ray field has an intensity of >5 × 10(18) W/cm(2) and is in the 3 keV range.
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