title: Petawatt laser absorption bounded.
abstract: The interaction of petawatt (10(15) W) lasers with solid matter forms the basis for advanced scientific applications such as table-top particle accelerators, ultrafast imaging systems and laser fusion. Key metrics for these applications relate to absorption, yet conditions in this regime are so nonlinear that it is often impossible to know the fraction of absorbed light f, and even the range of f is unknown. Here using a relativistic Rankine-Hugoniot-like analysis, we show for the first time that f exhibits a theoretical maximum and minimum. These bounds constrain nonlinear absorption mechanisms across the petawatt regime, forbidding high absorption values at low laser power and low absorption values at high laser power. For applications needing to circumvent the absorption bounds, these results will accelerate a shift from solid targets, towards structured and multilayer targets, and lead the development of new materials.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA [2] Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Wilks
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tabak
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Libby
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Baring