Role of inverse bremsstrahlung absorption and electrostatic potential on energy transport mechanism in laser produced plasmas

An analytical nonlocal heat transport formula has been derived from the reduced Fokker-Planck equation for a strongly inhomogeneous laser produced plasma including inverse-bremsstrahlung absorption as well as the electrostatic potential. It is found that while the former contributes an additive term to the heat flux, enhancing its value for both steep- and gentle-gradient situations, the latter effect introduces an exponential term which significantly reduces the electron thermal transport. Our calculations also show that for a moderately intense laser field, the maximum heat flux for steep gradients situations corresponds to flux inhibition factor f ∼ 0.15-0.17. (orig.)