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Observation and Control of Shock Waves in Individual Nanoplasmas

Daniel D. Hickstein1, Franklin Dollar1, Jim A. Gaffney2, Mark E. Foord2, George M. Petrov3, Brett B. Palm4, K. Ellen Keister1, Jennifer L. Ellis1, Chengyuan Ding1 et al.

Stephen B. Libby2, Jose L. Jimenez4, Henry C. Kapteyn1, Margaret M. Murnane1, and Wei Xiong1

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Colorado and JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 2Physics Division, Physical and Life Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
  • 3Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Lab, Washington, District of Columbia 20375, USA
  • 4Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 115004 – Published 18 March, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.115004

Abstract

Using an apparatus that images the momentum distribution of individual, isolated 100-nm-scale plasmas, we make the first experimental observation of shock waves in nanoplasmas. We demonstrate that the introduction of a heating pulse prior to the main laser pulse increases the intensity of the shock wave, producing a strong burst of quasimonoenergetic ions with an energy spread of less than 15%. Numerical hydrodynamic calculations confirm the appearance of accelerating shock waves and provide a mechanism for the generation and control of these shock waves. This observation of distinct shock waves in dense plasmas enables the control, study, and exploitation of nanoscale shock phenomena with tabletop-scale lasers.

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The Smallest Shock Wave

Published 18 March, 2014

Researchers create shock waves in a nanosized ball of plasma.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 115004– Published 18 March, 2014
  • Received 17 December 2013

© 2014 American Physical Society

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