Transport study of intense-laser-produced fast electrons in solid targets with a preplasma created by a long pulse laser

The effect of preplasma on fast electron generation and transport has been studied using an intense-laser pulse (I=2 x 10(18) W/cm(2)) at the Osaka University. An external long pulse laser beam (E < 1.5 J) was used to create various levels of preplasmas in front of a planar target for a systematic study. K alpha x-ray emission from a fluorescence layer (copper) was absolutely counted and its spatial distribution was monitored. Experimental data show K alpha x-ray signal reduction (up to 60%) with an increase in the preplasma level. In addition, a ring structure of Ka x rays was observed with a large preplasma. The underlying physics of the ring structure production was studied by integrating the modeling using a radiation hydrodynamics code and a hybrid particle-in-cell code. Modeling shows that the ring structure is due to the thermoelectric magnetic field excited by the long pulse laser irradiation and an electrostatic field due to the fast electrons in the preplasma. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.106311.3447878]