Direct observation of the ponderomotive force effects in short-scale-length laser plasmas by frequency-domain interferometry.
We report on single-shot frequency-domain interferometric measurements showing space- and time-resolved ponderomotive electron density profile steepening of a short-scale-length ultraintense laser-produced plasma. The density gradient scale length is varied by applying a time-delayed laser prepulse. The measured absolute position of the critical density surface is found to be in agreement with one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations for the range of scale lengths studied.
Audebert
P
P
Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, UMR7605, CNRS-CEA, Université Paris VI, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France.
Geindre
J P
JP
Rebibo
S
S
Gauthier
J C
JC