title: Measurements of electron transport in foils irradiated with a picosecond time scale laser pulse.
abstract: The heating of solid foils by a picosecond time scale laser pulse has been studied by using x-ray emission spectroscopy. The target material was plastic foil with a buried layer of a spectroscopic tracer material. The laser pulse length was either 0.5 or 2 ps, which resulted in a laser irradiance that varied over the range 10(16)-10(19) W/cm(2). Time-resolved measurements of the buried layer emission spectra using an ultrafast x-ray streak camera were used to infer the density and temperature conditions as a function of laser parameters and depth of the buried layer. Comparison of the data to different models of electron transport showed that they are consistent with a model of electron transport that predicts the bulk of the target heating is due to return currents.
authors.affiliation: Directorate Science and Technology, AWE Aldermaston, Reading, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: C R D
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hoarty
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Swatton
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Guymer
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Andrew
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Comley
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shepherd
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beiersdorfer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Emig