Numerical analysis of ablation plasma produced by pulsed ion beam for various solid targets

Abstract

This article presents the investigation of ablation plasma characteristics for flyer acceleration when different kinds of solid target materials (Au, Ag, Cu, and Pb) are irradiated with a pulsed ion beam. A one-dimensional hydrodynamic model is used in the calculations. The Lagrangean Scheme is used to describe the ablation plasma production and the acceleration mechanism. Of the four samples, numerical results reveal that Pb is the fastest material to be evaporated and expanded. Although Pb shows the greatest amount of ablation plasma production, it produces the ablation plasma with slowest velocity. In addition, the results show that the heat capacity is one of the significant factors in predicting how fast the solid targets can be evaporated to form ablation plasma.