Yuan Xiao-Hui

The characteristics of confined ablation in laser propulsion

Compared with direct ablation, confined ablation provides an effective way to obtain a large target momentum and a high coupling coefficient. By using a transparent glass layer to cover the target surface, the coupling coefficient is enhanced by an order of magnitude. With the increase of the gap width between the target surface and the cover layer, the coupling coefficient exponentially decreases. It is found that the coupling coefficient is also related to the thickness of the cover layer.

Generation of surface electrons in femtosecond laser-solid interactions

The characteristics of hot electrons produced by p-polarized femtosecond laser-solid interactions are studied. The experimental results show that the outgoing electrons are mainly emitted in three directions: along the target surface, the normal direction and the laser backward direction. The electrons flowing along the target surface are due to the confinement of the electrostatic field and the surface magnetic field, while the electrons in the normal direction due to the resonant absorption.

Acoustic Diagnostics of Plasma Channels Induced by Intense Femtosecond Laser Pulses in Air

Long plasma channels induced by femtosecond laser pulses in air are diagnosed using the sonographic method. By detecting the sound signals along the channels, the length and the electron density of the channels are measured. Refocusing is also observed at different laser energies and different focal lengths. We find that the sonographic method has manifest advantages compared to other techniques.

Double Jet Emission of Hot Electrons from a Micro-droplet Spray

Spatial distribution of hot electrons with energies above 50 keV are investigated by an ethanol micro-droplet spray irradiated by linearly and elliptically polarized 150 fs laser pulses at an intensity of 1016W/cm2. Two symmetric hot electron jets with respect to the laser propagation direction are observed in the polarization plane for a linearly polarized laser field and in the plane of the long electric vector for an elliptically polarized laser field, respectively. Particle-in-cell simulations suggest that the resonance absorption on the spherical surface of the droplets is mainly responsible for the generation of the double-jet emission of hot electrons.