Abstract
We have experimentally and theoretically studied the high-intensity femtosecond photoionization of inertially confined noble-gas clusters. We have examined the energies of electrons and ions ejected during these interactions and found that particles with substantial kinetic energy are generated. Electrons with energies up to 3 keV and ions with energies of up to 1 MeV have been observed. These experimental observations are well explained by a theoretical model of the cluster as a small plasma sphere that explodes following rapid electron collisional heating by the intense laser pulse.
- Received 5 May 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.57.369
©1998 American Physical Society