This article is cited in 2 papers

Letters to the editor

Boring of a channel in a thermonuclear target plasma by ultrahigh-intensity laser radiation

S. V. Omel'chenko, V. D. Taranukhin, I. V. Ivanov

International Laser Center of Moscow State University

Abstract: A two-dimensional hydrodynamic model is proposed for the interaction of laser radiation of ~10¹⁸ – 10²¹ W cm^–2 intensity with an overdense plasma. The model can be used to carry out numerical calculations 4 – 5 orders faster than by the ‘particle-in-cell&squo; method. It is shown that a channel of L~100 μm depth, sufficient to ignite a thermonuclear reaction, can be bored in a plasma of ~10²² cm^–3 density. Such channel boring is accompanied by generation of shock density pulses the evolution of which is essentially two-dimensional. For a given laser pulse energy, there is a specific intensity which maximises the channel depth.

PACS: 52.40.Nk, 42.62.Hk, 52.58.Ns

Received: 01.01.1996

 English version: Quantum Electronics, 1996, 26:7, 565–566

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