Investigations of pressure nonuniformity in laser-irradiated targets using incoherent optical smoothing

From analytic models of the ablation process in laser-plasma experiments, as well as simulations with Fokker-Planck and Spitzer codes, a new effect, thermal inertia smoothing has been identified. This effect results in a smoother Fokker-Planck temporal and spatial variation of the ablation pressure than that for Spitzer, for the same applied time-varying laser intensity. It is therefore advantageous for incoherent optical smoothing schemes. This is especially true at early times in the laser pulse (≤100 ps). (author)