Eur. Phys. J. D (2017) 71: 202
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2017-80222-7

Regular Article

Parametric investigation of laser interaction with uniform and nanostructured near-critical plasmas^*

Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy

^a e-mail: luca.fedeli@polimi.it

Received: 29 March 2017
Received in final form: 22 May 2017
Published online: 3 August 2017

Abstract

Laser interaction with uniform and nanostructured near-critical plasmas has been investigated by means of 2D particle-in-cell simulations. The effect of a nanostructure (modeled as a collection of solid-density nanospheres) on energy absorption and radiative losses has been assessed in a wide range of laser intensities (normalized amplitude a₀ = 1 − 135) and average densities of the target (electron density n_e = 1 − 9n_c, where n_c is the critical electron density). The nanostructure was found to affect mainly the conversion efficiency of laser energy into ion kinetic energy and radiative losses for the highest simulated intensities.