Observation of the decay dynamics and instabilities of megagauss field structures in laser-produced plasmas

Monoenergetic proton radiography was used to make the first measurements of the long-time-scale dynamics and evolution of megagauss laser-plasma-generated magnetic field structures. While a 1-ns 10(14) W/cm2 laser beam is on, the field structure expands in tandem with a hemispherical plasma bubble,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2007-07, Vol.99 (1), p.015001-015001, Article 015001
Main Authors: Li, C K, Séguin, F H, Frenje, J A, Rygg, J R, Petrasso, R D, Town, R P J, Amendt, P A, Hatchett, S P, Landen, O L, Mackinnon, A J, Patel, P K, Tabak, M, Knauer, J P, Sangster, T C, Smalyuk, V A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Monoenergetic proton radiography was used to make the first measurements of the long-time-scale dynamics and evolution of megagauss laser-plasma-generated magnetic field structures. While a 1-ns 10(14) W/cm2 laser beam is on, the field structure expands in tandem with a hemispherical plasma bubble, maintaining a rigorous 2D cylindrical symmetry. With the laser off, the bubble continues to expand as the field decays; however, the outer field structure becomes distinctly asymmetric, indicating instability. Similarly, localized asymmetry growth in the bubble interior indicates another kind of instability. 2D LASNEX hydrosimulations qualitatively match the cylindrically averaged post-laser plasma evolution but even then it underpredicts the field dissipation rate and of course completely misses the 3D asymmetry growth.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.015001