Abstract
A possible new mechanism for anomalous ion heating in ultra-intense laser
plasmas is considered here. This mechanism is based on the excitation of
an electron two-stream instability that is driven by the fast electron beam and
resonantly decays into ion-acousticwaves. These lowfrequencywaves are then
strongly damped by the ion collisions in the dense plasma. The model gives
a simple explanation for the preferential heating of the bulk ion population
observed in recent laser experiments in the petawatt (PW) regime.
plasmas is considered here. This mechanism is based on the excitation of
an electron two-stream instability that is driven by the fast electron beam and
resonantly decays into ion-acousticwaves. These lowfrequencywaves are then
strongly damped by the ion collisions in the dense plasma. The model gives
a simple explanation for the preferential heating of the bulk ion population
observed in recent laser experiments in the petawatt (PW) regime.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | B799-B805 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 12B |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Nov 2005 |
Keywords
- microinstabilities
- electrostatic waves and oscillations
- magnetohydrodynamic fluid equation
- laser-plasma interaction
- plasma production
- plasma kinetic equations