Enhanced hot-electron production and strong-shock generation in hydrogen-rich ablators for shock ignition

Abstract

Experiments were performed with CH, Be, C, and SiO2 ablators interacting with high-intensity UV laser radiation (5 × 1015 W/cm2, λ = 351 nm) to determine the optimum material for hot-electron production and strong-shock generation. Significantly more hot electrons are produced in CH (up to ∼13% instantaneous conversion efficiency), while the amount is a factor of ∼2 to 3 lower in the other ablators. A larger hot-electron fraction is correlated with a higher effective ablation pressure. The higher conversion efficiency in CH is attributed to stronger damping of ion-acoustic waves because of the presence of light H ions.