High-energy ion expansion in laser-plasma interactions

Measurements of energetic-ion energy distributions produced from CD2 and CH2 targets are compared with a numerical model. The model describes the ambipolar expansion of hot electrons and two relatively cold ion species from an electron pressure gradient. For CD2 the plasma expansion is adequately represented by a single ion species, whereas for CH2 two-ion fluids are required to account for the energy and the relative behavior of the high-energy ion species