Polarization dependent energy transfer in laser produced plasma experiments

Abstract

Polarization dependent light absorption in laser produced plasmas of small focal diameters (28 μm full 1/e2 width) has been investigated simultaneously in five different channels of observation: specular reflection of the laser light, second harmonic (2ω) generation, charge and velocity distribution of the emitted ions and ablation pressure to the target. The experiments have been performed using a Nd-YAG mode locking pulse (λ = 1·06 μm, λ = 45 ps) which has been focused onto plane, thick plexiglass (C8H5O2) n disks to intensities up to 1014 W/cm2. As a result of the small focal spot size, a very small density scale length of 0·6 μm is derived from the resonance curves, consistently, for all channels of diagnostics.