Laser-driven Rayleigh-Taylor instability: plasmonic effects and three-dimensional structures

The acceleration of dense targets driven by the radiation pressure of high-intensity lasers leads to a Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) with rippling of the interaction surface. Using a simple model it is shown that the self-consistent modulation of the radiation pressure caused by a sinusoidal rip...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 2015-01, Vol.91 (1), p.013106-013106, Article 013106
Main Authors: Sgattoni, A, Sinigardi, S, Fedeli, L, Pegoraro, F, Macchi, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The acceleration of dense targets driven by the radiation pressure of high-intensity lasers leads to a Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) with rippling of the interaction surface. Using a simple model it is shown that the self-consistent modulation of the radiation pressure caused by a sinusoidal rippling affects substantially the wave vector spectrum of the RTI, depending on the laser polarization. The plasmonic enhancement of the local field when the rippling period is close to a laser wavelength sets the dominant RTI scale. The nonlinear evolution is investigated by three-dimensional simulations, which show the formation of stable structures with "wallpaper" symmetry.
ISSN:1539-3755
1550-2376
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevE.91.013106