Experimental Studies of the Bilateral Ion Blowoff from Laser-Irradiated Thin Plastic Foils

Abstract

Thin plastic foils of various thicknesses (0.13-5.0 μm) were irradiated by iodine-laser pulses with an incident intensity of 4×${10}^{15}$ W ${\mathrm{cm}}^{-2\mathrm{}}$. Time-of-flight charge collectors and a Thomson parabola mass spectrometer were used to measure the asymptotic ion velocity distribution at the back and the front (laser) sides of the target. Analysis of these data yielded the ratios of the hot-electron densities and of the hot-electron temperatures at both sides of the foil target. The results disagree with calculations based on classical electron penetration into the foil.