Dynamics of a Xe cluster plasma produced by an intense ultrashort pulse KrF laser

Abstract

The dynamics of Xe clusters with initial radius between 10 and 100 Å irradiated by an IR subpicosecond laser pulse is investigated. The evolution of the cluster is modeled with a relativistic time-dependent three-dimensional particle simulation model. The focus of this investigation is to understand the energy absorption of clusters and how the absorbed energy is distributed among the various degrees of freedom. The consequence of the initial cluster radius on the absorbed energy, average charge per atom, mean electron and ion energies, ionization, removal of electrons from the cluster, and cluster expansion was studied. The absorbed energy per cluster scales as N 5/3 , and the mean electron and ion energies scale as N 1/3 and N 2/3 , respectively ͑N is the number of atoms per cluster͒. A significant fraction of the absorbed energy ͑ϳ90% ͒ is converted into kinetic energy with comparable contribution to electrons and ions. The energy balance suggests that smaller clusters are more efficient as radiators, while larger clusters are more conducive to particle acceleration. The radiation yield of clusters with initial radius 20-50 Å irradiated by a laser with peak intensity 10 16 W/cm 2 is determined to be 1%-2%.

Impact of the laser wavelength on the dynamics of Xe cluster plasma produced by an intense ultrashort laser pulse

“…Theoretical studies have proven useful and capable of elucidating many aspects of the laser-cluster interaction. A wide variety of models, spatially averaged, 4 one-dimensional fluid models, 5,6 particle-in-cell codes, [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and Monte Carlo simulations 19 have been developed and applied to a variety of cluster attributes. Particle simulation models, especially three-dimensional ͑3D͒, turned out to be particularly insightful.…”

“…In a follow-up article, we explored the effect of initial cluster radius upon the absorbed energy, average charge per atom, mean electron and ion energies, ionization, removal of electrons from the cluster, and cluster expansion. 18 This study is relevant since cluster size varies; i.e., there is certain cluster size distribution. It was found that clusters have different properties than do individual atoms: the absorbed energy per cluster scales as N 5/3 , and the mean electron and ion energy scale as N 1/3 and N 2/3 , respectively ͑N is the number of atoms per cluster͒.…”

Study of x-rays produced from debris-free sources with Ar, Kr and Kr/Ar mixture linear gas jets irradiated by UNR Leopard laser beam with fs and ns pulse duration

“…Interaction of short laser pulses with Ar and Kr clusters was modeled using a 3D relativistic molecular dynamics (MD) code [27,28]. The model accounts for plasma formation within the cluster, coupling of laser energy to the plasma and plasma evolution.…”

Influence of Xe and Kr impurities on x-ray yield from debris-free plasma x-ray sources with an Ar supersonic gas jet irradiated by femtosecond near-infrared-wavelength laser pulses

“…A 3D relativistic Molecular Dynamics (MD) code [16,17] was used for modeling the interaction of fs laser pulses with Xe clusters. The plasma formation within the cluster, coupling of laser energy to the plasma, and plasma evolution are all intricate parts of the model.…”